'Battle for heart of the Republican Party': MAGA's mastermind refocuses target

After he was released from prison and returned to his "War Room" podcast, Steve Bannon had a decidedly vengeful tone. The former White House chief strategist made it clear that for the MAGA movement, taking revenge against those who had crossed President-elect Donald Trump would be a top priority.

Bannon makes no secret of his total disdain for liberals, progressives and Democrats. But Slate's Molly Olmsted, in an article published Monday, emphasizes that establishment Republicans and non-MAGA conservatives are also a major target of the "War Room" host.

Olmstead notes that she has been following Bannon's podcast closely since his release from prison — and his threats against those he considers enemies have been plentiful.

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"As the man who constructed the intellectual framework of the MAGA movement, Bannon had, for years, preached the importance of building a populist message with broad appeal across many demographics,” she wrote.

“His ideal GOP would keep its focus on battling the 'elites' rather than get distracted by culture-war squabbles; scorn squeamish centrists too afraid of violating democratic norms to shake up or burn down the governing institutions; and reject the old ways of conservatism in favor of extreme isolationism."

The Slate reporter adds, "This, he prophesied, would lead to an unbreakable coalition that could fundamentally reshape the nation’s politics for the next half-century."

Bannon, Olmstead notes, has been demanding "investigations into the 'deep state' for its crimes against Trump."

"On 'War Room,'" she wrote, "the battle for the heart of the Republican Party is just as urgent as the battle against the Democrats, if not more so…. During the vote over the Senate majority leader, Bannon was incensed that Sen. Rick Scott, the MAGA pick, lost out to John Thune, whom Bannon called a '(Mitch) McConnell puppet…. Bannon's great victory on election night was over not the Harris campaign but the idea that Republicans needed to moderate their stances on immigration and far-right isolationism."

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Read Molly Olmstead's full article for Slate at this link.