Pundits Praise Addition of Bannon to Trump Campaign: ‘Anti-Establishment’ ‘Populist Warrior Who Revels in the Fight’ and ‘Pissing Off the Right People’

Stephen K. Bannon
Kirk Irwin/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Rebecca Mansour

Conservatives pundits eager for a full-throated campaign against the Clinton machine cheered the announcement on Wednesday that Breitbart Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and pollster Kellyanne Conway would be taking over leadership of the Trump campaign, as CEO and manager respectively.

The Washington Post’s Robert Costa took to Twitter to remind people of Bannon’s accurate prediction five years ago about the political trend toward populist issues.

Costa also solicited comment from former RNC Chairman Michael Steele who praised the addition of Bannon to the Trump campaign as a “magical” choice that was “pissing off the right people.”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich complimented the campaign’s expansion.

Bloomberg’s Joshua Green, who wrote an extensive profile of Bannon last October in which he called him “the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America,” also tweeted some insight into the Bannon’s addition to the Trump campaign.

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, himself a longtime champion of populist positions on trade and immigration, weighed in with praise of Bannon:

Veteran GOP strategist Roger Stone also chimed in:

https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/765906017884528640

Veteran grassroots conservative leader Richard Viguerie also praised the addition of Conway and Bannon to Trump’s team in a statement to his website ConservativeHQ titled “Movement Conservatives Now Leading Trump Campaign.”

Praising Conway and Bannon as “movement conservatives,” Viguerie noted, “With Kellyanne and Steve at the top of the campaign, Mike Pence as Vice President and Senator Jeff Sessions at Donald Trump’s side the Trump campaign is shaping up to be the most ideological campaign since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter.”

He continued: “Unlike the failed campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney, who took the advice of the GOP establishment consultants and the media and ‘moved to the center,’ Donald Trump has moved right to bring movement conservatives into partnership with the conservative populists who won him the Republican primaries. This is a winning coalition.”

“I expect the closing months of the Trump campaign to be based on the winning conservative issues of law and order, winning the war with radical Islam and rebuilding our economy by removing the $2 trillion regulatory drag of the Obama years,” he added.

Calling Conway and Bannon “two of the conservative movement’s most talented and trusted strategists,” Viguerie said: “Trump’s decision to promote them to top leadership positions in his campaign will do much to close the deal with movement conservatives to actively support and vote for Donald Trump.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser of the pro-life organization the Susan B. Anthony List issued a statement praising Conway and Bannon:

I have known and trusted Kellyanne Conway my entire professional life. No one is better at understanding what real people are thinking and how to connect with them than Kellyanne. She and Steve both understand the importance of effectively communicating the pro-life position and leveraging the passion of the pro-life grassroots in winning elections. No two could be better positioned to help Donald Trump to take on and expose Hillary Clinton’s extremism in this general election.

Conservative writer Pam Geller compared Bannon to “Patton”:

https://twitter.com/PamelaGeller/status/765936595853795328

Appearing on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski applauded Bannon’s “win at all costs” approach, adding that “Steve is a person who’s had unparalleled success in the private sector. He is a person who, I think a little bit like myself, is a bit of a street fighter, a person who is willing to go right at his opponents.”

“You’ve got a candidate that wants to win,” Lewandowski noted. “This is a clear indication of that. If you look at Stephen Bannon and what they’ve built at Breitbart, it’s win at all cost, and I really think that makes people on the left very afraid because they are willing to say and do things that others in the mainstream media wouldn’t do.”

Finally, the candidate himself praised his new campaign leadership. Trump told the Associated Press that he has known both Conway and Bannon for a long time. “They’re terrific people, they’re winners, they’re champs, and we need to win it,” he said.

Update: Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA.), who unseated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor during the 2014 primary, told The Hill:

Steve Bannon certainly will be great at reflecting the populist issues that have shaken the political world for the past couple years. He has his finger on the pulse of the American people and so I am sure he will make these issues … front and center in this campaign, including the war on ISIS, immigration-related issues, crony trade deals, and using all the levers of American power to ensure that we put the American people first.

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