Steve Bannon warns Trump and Musk that many MAGAs are on Medicaid, saying, “You are dead wrong.”
Steve Bannon issued a warning for Republicans who have fully embraced tech “oligarchs.” The former White House adviser to President Donald Trump criticized certain Silicon Valley billionaires, notably Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Both have played significant roles in political circles, with Zuckerberg reinstating Trump’s Facebook account in 2023 after banning him following the Capitol riot. Musk, who spent at least $277 million to help Trump return to the White House, was appointed head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a position he has used to reshape various federal agencies.
CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan interviewed Bannon on Wednesday, with the conversation airing later on CNN’s The Source. During the interview, Bannon expressed his skepticism toward the oligarchs, saying:
“You can tell President Trump doesn’t totally trust the oligarchs. We’re putting in very tough antitrust people into the Justice Department and to the alphabet agencies… Look, I’m not a conservative, right? I’m a Republican ’cause I’m a registered Republican. I’m really a populist nationalist…”
Bannon continued, explaining the temporary nature of the oligarchs’ alliance with the Republican cause:
“And by the way, those oligarchs – and people on CNN are gonna understand it – just like they’ve turned on you now, right? They’ve abandoned the progressive left. They will abandon us and do the same thing. They seek power. Right now, their feeling is they can see the math and they see that we have a built-in coalition. So they’re with us – but only temporarily.”
While Bannon has long advocated for dismantling the administrative state, he criticized Musk’s approach to governance. In an interview with UnHerd, Bannon called Musk’s influence problematic: “He wants to impose his freak experiments and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, values, or traditions,” he said. Bannon also referred to Musk as a “parasitic illegal immigrant,” reflecting his frustration with the tech billionaire’s rising power.
Additionally, Bannon warned both Trump and Musk about the risks of slashing Medicaid. “Medicaid, you got to be careful because a lot of MAGAs on Medicaid,” he said. “I’m telling you, if you don’t think so, you are dead wrong. Medicaid is going to be a complicated one. Just can’t take a meat axe to it, although I would love to.”
Bannon’s comments underscore his complex relationship with the influence of Silicon Valley billionaires in politics, warning that their temporary alliance with Republicans could quickly shift once their goals are achieved. His criticisms point to the potential dangers of tech moguls like Musk holding significant sway in government.
watch the CNN Video below.
