War Room host Steve Bannon rallied Republicans at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday to vote for former President Donald Trump in November to accomplish what called the “greatest political comeback in American history.”
In just under 10 minutes, Bannon argued Trump’s “fate and destiny” are “intertwined” with the United States, lambasted President Joe Biden as an “illegitimate regime head” in the process of being cast out, and urged Americans to join a “crusade of righteousness” by voting for Trump on November 5.
“The greatest president of the 20th and 21st centuries sat here and said he’s a political dissident,” launched Bannon, referencing Trump’s earlier CPAC speech, in which he identified himself as a “proud political dissident.”
Bannon said Trump is treated as a political dissident by the Biden administration and Democratic prosecutors “because he gave us three years of peace and prosperity before” COVID-19 and the disputed 2020 election.
“Donald Trump is the legitimate President of the United States,” Bannon declared. “If Biden actually won, he would be a revered hero to them. If Kamala Harris had really been the wing man, she’d be a revered hero.”
Instead, according to Bannon, “The New York Times is throwing Biden under the bus every day, and backing up over him. That shows you they know he’s an illegitimate regime head, he’s a usurper at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Steve Bannon tells it like it is at @CPAC 2024!
“Media, I want you to suck on this. I want the White House to suck on this. You lost in 2020. Donald Trump is the legitimate President of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/zWokAblxWt
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) February 25, 2024
He also invoked the name of a Roman general who was frequently compared to President George Washington during the first president’s lifetime.
“Like the great Roman General Cincinnatus, [Trump] has returned from the plow to save his country,” said Bannon, referencing the general historians say had retired and become a farmer before leaving his fields to become the Roman Republic’s head of state to subdue an invasion. Appointed a dictator, Cincinnatus resigned 16 days later.
Bannon then drew comparisons between Trump, Washington, and President Abraham Lincoln.
“Only [with] two other men in the history of this republic, General Washington in the Revolution and the foundation, and Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War, have the personal fate and destiny of an individual been inextricably linked to the fate and destiny of this republic.”
The War Room host declared, “Donald John Trump is the third person, and his fate and destiny is to have the greatest political comeback in American history, and on this November 5, to drive the vermin out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
He also argued that frequent attacks against the former president and his supporters are rooted in intellectual dishonesty from Democrats and their allies in the media.
“They call you racist, they call you xenophobe, they call you nativist. Nothing could be farther from the truth.”
They call you racist, they call you xenophobe, they call you nativist! Not could be further from the truth… They can't win the intellectual argument, so what they have to do is try and smear you. – Steve Bannon.
Watch today's live @CPAC coverage: https://t.co/BcOc68wUgP pic.twitter.com/uZc8umsVBq
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) February 24, 2024
He explained, “Because they cannot win the intellectual argument, what they have to do is try to smear you. And you don’t care because you know that’s not true, and the facts are not true.”
Bannon urged the crowd, “This is a crusade of righteousness, are you with us?”
He concluded his speech with a paraphrased phrase attributed to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, instructing, “When you set off to take Vienna, take Vienna.”
Watch Bannon’s full speech at CPAC:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Stephen K. Bannon Onstage at CPAC 2024” by CPAC 2024.
