Former President Donald Trump's longtime ally Steve Bannon branded House Speaker Mike Johnson a "disgusting, revolting loser."
Bannon, a onetime White House chief strategist and right-wing media personality, has intensified his attacks on Johnson since he pushed his party to support a $95-billion aid package that sends support to Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.
Johnson came under fire from MAGA Republicans for overseeing the passage of the military aid opposed by Trump, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatening to move to oust Johnson. However, Trump has reiterated his support for Johnson, saying he is "a very good person" and "trying very hard."
On his War Room podcast on Saturday, Bannon accused Johnson of not releasing a lengthy report about a "criminal conspiracy investigation" that could have helped Trump, who is currently on trial in New York.
"Why was this report not dropped on the eve of the trial? You had this... Why was this not dropped so we could go on information warfare offense, like you're teaching information warfare 101. This 300-page report was done. It was done."
He continued: "Why was it not dropped on the eve of the trial, like the left does because they're organized and they work together? And Johnson goes, you know, 'they're kind of socialistic, they're very collective.' Screw you, you twerp. You are a disgusting, revolting loser and you suppressed this document, and we lost the ability to crush their trial against Trump from the very beginning."
Newsweek has contacted Bannon, a Trump spokesperson and Johnson's office for further comment via email.
Bannon also attacked House Republicans on his podcast earlier this week, saying some secretly want Trump to lose to President Joe Biden in November's election.
He questioned why Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is not investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Willis is prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against Trump, while Trump owes more than $454 million after losing a civil fraud case brought by James.
"Why does Jordan... not have a criminal conspiracy investigation from Fani Willis in Georgia to 'Big Tish James' in New York City?" Bannon said, referring to Jordan.
"The Justice Department, why they've not been sent letters, preserve your documents. Why have hearings not gone on? Why have they not broken these things up? You know why. Because they don't really have Trump's back.
"They want MAGA to go away. They want Trump to be defeated in November. Yes, yes, I know I said the quiet part out loud."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
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