Bannon Rips PBS During Interview: ‘Bunch of Lying F***ing Scumbags!’
The MAGA hardliner tore into the network when asked about the president’s attacks on judges.
Steve Bannon unleashed an expletive-laced tirade at PBS during an interview with the public service broadcaster.
When interviewer Mike Wiser asked if President Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on federal judges were “the type of thing a president should say,” Bannon exploded.
“Was there any complaint from PBS, or was there any complaint by the Democrats, on the rhetoric used against the judges when the Roe v. Wade decision came out, and they had to have police protection at their houses? I don’t remember anything about the rhetoric being too high," Bannon said.
“You guys are so f---ing phony on the face of it,” he added. “This is why we’re defeating the left. The American people, as they see this, they go, ‘These guys are a bunch of f—ing lying scumbags,’ which you are a bunch of f---ing lying scumbags. You terrorize—you tried to terrorize Supreme Court justices over a decision that didn’t go your way.”
Wiser remained silent, prompting the MAGA diehard to further excoriate the media and other institutions that have caved to Trump.
Steve Bannon referred to liberal institutions as "gutless cowards."
Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Semafor
“If you take power and exert it, this system’s not so tough,” he said. “You know why? They’re all gutless cowards. They’ve all hid behind the system for decades and decades and decades. So the university administrations? They’re not that tough. The big law firms? They’re not that tough. The media? Look who’s cratered. How many times—look at the settlement with Trump. They’re not tough."
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Bannon then compared surrender-happy liberal institutions with the MAGA movement.
“We’re resilient, we’re anti-fragile, and we’re tough,” he said. “You can put us in fucking prison, you can take Trump up there and put him on trial every day, the people around Trump are battle-hardened, okay? You’re not gonna scare us and we’re not gonna stop, and what we know is you guys are a bunch of pussies. You will crater. PBS is gonna crater. You know why? You’re not tough.”
Public broadcasters such as PBS are set to face $9 billion in cuts.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
This week, Trump signed a $9 billion recissions package into law that will slash funding from NPR and PBS along with cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The cuts, which Democrats and media watchdogs have criticized, could result in significant job losses, cutbacks in educational programs and investigative journalism, and the closure of stations in rural areas.
Bannon accused PBS of "not being tough" as the reason they will fall to the Trump administration.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“Public broadcasting is a cornerstone of informed democracy,” said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. “These cuts threaten access to trusted news and cultural programming for communities across the country.”
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