Bannon’s Absence From Inauguration Suggests Musk May Be Getting the Last Laugh in MAGA War
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was noticeably absent from the inauguration’s presidential fanfare on Monday amid his ongoing feud with Elon Musk.
Bannon covered the inauguration on his WarRoom podcast amid rumors of a growing civil war between MAGA’s old guard, led by the 71-year-old Bannon and its new billionaire leaders, led by Musk.
While Bannon was MIA during the swearing-in ceremony, Musk was front and center, seated on the dais behind Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha Vance.
The seating arrangement is a blow to Bannon, who has vowed to kick “evil” Musk out of Trump’s entourage and take back MAGA from the billionaires for the populists.
However, the weight and influence of Trump’s new billionaire boys club has proved difficult for Bannon to shake.
Days before Trump’s inauguration, Bannon took another swipe at the “oligarchs” surrounding Trump by slamming the decision to move the inauguration indoors. Bannon claimed the move was most likely precipitated as a protection measure for the billionaires in Trump’s midst.
“It ain’t gonna be that cold,” said Bannon on the Saturday episode of his WarRoom podcast. “Just because the oligarchs are there. They’re too tender, coming from Silicon Valley. Are they too soft?”
Bannon has been at odds with the tech titans in Trump’s orbit ever since pharmaceutical billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy defended H-1B visas by asserting that Americans simply aren’t smart enough to fill top tech and engineering roles.
His comments, sparking outrage, were co-signed by Musk in a series of tweets as the Tesla CEO directed his anger at one commentator with: “Take a big step back and F--- YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
In an interview with NPR, Bannon doubled down on MAGA being a populist movement that will win above all.
“Here’s what upset me and why I got engaged. [Musk] called the American citizens retards the R word. [Musk didn’t use the word himself but promoted a post on X that used it],” said Bannon. “He dissed the MAGA movement as being racist, which is the old trope that the left. He used all the left tropes to come after us.”
He added, “These oligarchs in Silicon Valley, they have a very different view of how people should govern themselves. I call it techno-feudalism. They don’t believe in the underlying tenets of self-governance.”
Above all, MAGA is populist said Bannon.
“We’re populist. We believe American citizens should come first in everything. And in the visa program, there is no legal immigration to this country,” said Bannon.
When asked what it says that Trump listened to the “oligarchs” over him, Bannon responded: “Let’s see how that plays out.”