Former Trump White House advisor and campaign manager Steve Bannon criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday after his spending proposal to keep the government funded collapsed under pressure from Elon Musk and, eventually, President-elect Donald Trump.
“Vote no on this, make the Democrats pass– Oh hell, Johnson’s a Democrat. He’s a Democrat!” Bannon said on his WarRoom program.
“He holds the Bible. He’s got the he’s got the New Testament wrapped up tight. He can talk happy talk on a handful of social issues. You know, checking his son’s porn sites. I don’t know all this crazy nonsense. He does all that. He goes down there,” Bannon ranted.
“He’s a big, deep Christian. Except when it comes to showing courage and being courageous and maybe bringing people in. So it’s not a surprise,” he continued. “So now the media can sit there with a big old shotgun to your head and go, ‘Oh my gosh. No, Social Security checks is going to be called. It’s going to be dark for Christmas Day. Granny is going to freeze. The parks are going to be closed. Smithsonian is not going to be open on Christmas Eve. Not going to get any mail, no Christmas presents going to go over.’
“CNN’s going to have that big camera everywhere. Kids crying. No, Santa, NORAD’s not going to be able to–NORAD’s not going to be able to track Santa on Christmas Eve. NORAD will not do it. You remember as a kid, every sitting I got Santa. He’s leaving the North Pole. It’s not going to happen because government is going to shut down because government’s out of money,” he added, mocking Johnson.
Bannon then called for Johnson’s ouster, but were that to happen, it would once again throw the Republican caucus into turmoil with an even slimmer majority than the last time Republicans revolted and replaced then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) with Johnson — weeks later.
Trump issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon criticizing the bipartisan continuing resolution that Speaker Mike Johnson had negotiated to pass through the Democrat-controlled Senate in order to avoid a shutdown on December 20th.
Johnson’s proposal would maintain government funding at current levels through March 14th and include over $100 billion in additional spending for disaster relief for hurricane victims in the Southeast, among other initiatives.
“The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed,” the joint Trump-Vice President-elect JD Vance statement began.
“Meanwhile, Congress is considering a spending bill that would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney. The bill would make it easier to hide the records of the corrupt January 6 committee—which accomplished nothing for the American people and hid security failures that happened that day. This bill would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas,” the statement continued.
“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let’s have this debate now,” it continued.
A statement from President Donald J. Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance:
The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed.…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 18, 2024
“And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want. Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” their statement continued.
“The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country. Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” it added.
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