In a series of insults on Wednesday evening, ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called Pence a “disgusting coward” for saying that Republicans should stop protesting about the FBI over the raid at former President Donald Trump’s Florida home. Bannon had also referred to Pence as a “mindless, gutless simp.”
Before leaving the White House in 2017, Bannon was a White House strategist under the Trump administration. Since then, he has remained an ally to Trump despite the turbulence. During his show “War Room” on right-wing network Real America’s Voice, Bannon said, “Pence, you are a disgusting coward. Just even the sight of you bugs me.”
This comment follows Pence’s statement, “These attacks on the FBI must stop. Calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police,” at a New Hampshire event earlier that day. Pence also condemned the protests against the FBI and said that the Republican party “is the party of law and order.” He was insinuating that the conservatives were not upholding law and order by protesting against injustice.
Bannon called Mike Pence a ‘disgusting coward’ after the former vice president criticized calls to defund the FBI https://t.co/0NO3JrUdwj Of all the shit loser has left all over America the pile called bannon may only be top by the stone and flynn piles. Three amigos of shame
— fred a frog (@fredafrog2) August 18, 2022
Though he didn’t mention any Republicans by name, he was referring to some of Trump’s most vocal supporters. They include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. These people have advocated defunding and investigating the FBI, as the organization no longer seems trustworthy.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the first to tweet her disapproval of the search, posting “DEFUND THE FBI!” on Twitter. Other GOP lawmakers also came out against law enforcement in support of Trump.
Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar also tweeted, “The FBI raid on Trump’s home tells us one thing. Failure is not an option. We must destroy the FBI. We must save America.
Colorado lawmaker Lauren Boebert tweeted that she wanted the GOP to set up a Committee to investigate the FBI’s politically-motivated raid on Mar-a-Lago and every fraudulent persecution of President Trump from the Biden administration.
In addition, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio called on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to answer questions at the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
“What were you really doing? What were you looking for? Why not talk to President Trump and have him give the information you’re after?” Jordan questioned angrily. “This is unbelievable!”
Bannon reacted to Pence’s statement by criticizing him for his comments. He added that there are more examples of the widening gap between Trump’s supporters and traditional GOP lawmakers, “controlled opposition that has gotten this nation in trouble.”
Bannon also argued the FBI’s raid represented the actions of a “police state,” which he said justified why some Republicans were calling for its disbanding. He added, “There is no comparison of any defunding the police. We’ve never called for defunding the police. We’re calling for defunding the police state.”