Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has expressed skepticism over the text messages allegedly sent by Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer to his roommate, telling viewers of his War Room podcast that he’s “not buying the script.”
Bannon discussed messages that the FBI claims were sent by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson to his roommate after Robinson allegedly shot and killed 31-year-old MAGA activist Kirk.
The messages show Robinson revealing that he had “had enough” of Kirk’s hatred while discussing his plans to retrieve the rifle used in the shooting. The evidence offered the clearest indication yet of a possible motive.
“I’m particularly not buying those text messages, it just seems too stilted, too much like a script—actually, like a bad script. So we gotta get to the bottom of it,” Bannon told his viewers on Tuesday.
“You’ve gotta get to the bottom of these groups, you’ve gotta get to the bottom of antifa, you’ve gotta see if there’s any connections to Butler,” he continued.
“We’ve got a whole lot of work to do, and no, I’m not buying the script that was in the text messages.”
Bannon also didn’t believe that Robinson’s primary concern in the immediate aftermath of the shooting was misplacing his grandfather’s rifle.
“You just murdered the most important young person in the conservative movement, you shot him down like a dog, and you’re telling me you’re texting, ‘Dad’s going to be very upset I lost grandpa’s rifle.‘ Are you kidding me? You expect me to believe that?”
“How did the guy have time to write a sonnet? How did he worry about ‘Dad’s really going to be upset about grandpa’s rifle‘? Dude, I think your father may be upset that you shot a man in cold blood in front of the world,” Bannon argued.
“I am absolutely not buying this.”
Bannon has also called for an investigation into Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, describing him as being “part of the problem” that resulted in Kirk’s murder.
“He needs to be investigated. His administration needs to be investigated... He’s not a truthful narrative. He’s part of the problem that needs to be investigated.“
“That’s why it’s a mass investigation,” Bannon said. “When is the FBI going to go talk to him?”
In an episode recorded soon after Kirk’s death, Bannon described Kirk as a “casualty of war,” telling his viewers, “We have to have steely resolve. Charlie Kirk is a casualty of war. We are at war in this country. We are.”
His comment mirrored similar statements from across the MAGAsphere, including from fringe figures like Alex Jones who claimed the left had “put a bullseye on Trump” and his supporters, as well as Fox News host Jesse Watters, who said on The Five, “Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us.”
“What are we going to do about it? How much political violence are we going to tolerate? And that’s the question we are going to have to ask ourselves,” Watters asked.
