Steve Bannon: Comey Firing Worst Mistake 'In Modern Political History'

It should come as no surprise that President Trump's recently ousted chief strategist, the outspoken and combative Steve Bannon, had some harsh words for his former White House colleagues in his first big interview since he was fired. In the interview, which aired Sunday night on CBS's "60 Minutes," the self-proclaimed "streetfighter" reserved arguably his most stinging criticism for Trump himself, saying the president's ousting of former FBI chief James Comey was the biggest mistake "in modern political history."

The reason the decision was practically political suicide is because it fanned the flames of the investigations into Russia's influence on the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, said Bannon.

"We would not have the Mueller investigation and the breadth that clearly Mr. Mueller is going for,” Bannon said. Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to lead the government's probe into the Russia affair. (For more national political news, sign up for the free White House Patch email newsletter.)

Despite his disagreement with the Comey firing, Bannon made it clear he is Trump's "wingman from the outside." But his support does not extend to the mainstream heart of the Republican party. He told interviewer Charlie Rose that "the Republican establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election."

"I think Mitch McConnell, and to a degree, Paul Ryan. They do not want Donald Trump's populist, economic nationalist agenda to be implemented. It's very obvious. It's obvious as-- it's obvious as the-- it's obvious as night follows day is what they're trying to do--," Bannon said, before Rose asked him for an example. Bannon pointed to his first meeting with McConnell, the Senate majority leader, when Bannon said the senator told him, "I don't wanna hear any more of this 'Drain the Swamp' talk."

"The "Drain the Swamp" thing was-- is Mitch McConnell was Day One did not wanna-- did not wanna go there. Wanted us to back off," Bannon said.

Read the transcript and watch the video of Rose's "60 Minutes" interview with Bannon here.

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