Steve Bannon Posts Article About Trump's Clout Taking a Hit

Steve Bannon, an ex-adviser to Donald Trump, shared an article on Friday about the former president's waning political influence amid the drawn-out race for speaker of the House.

For the past several days, congressional Republicans have been unable to agree on who will ascend to the speakership. California Representative Kevin McCarthy's bid has continuously been stonewalled by an ultraconservative faction, which has instead supported members such as representatives Byron Donalds of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Meanwhile, Trump is pushing the Republican Party to embrace McCarthy. Yet as the still-unfinished House speaker race has dragged on through 11 rounds of voting, some are questioning whether the former president has lost his Midas touch.

On Friday, Bannon posted an article from The Hill about the ordeal to his Gettr page.

"'The Hill' Newspaper: Trump's power takes hit in his backing of McCarthy's Speakership bid..." Bannon's caption read.

The article says that Trump's pleas to elevate McCarthy have fallen on deaf ears for some in the GOP, helping to illustrate that his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential primary may not be a sure thing. Some of Trump's most ardent allies, including Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert and Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, have diverged from him on who should become House speaker.

Gaetz, meanwhile, nominated Trump for the position this week, a choice that Bannon also seems to think is sound.

Ron Filipkowski, a Democratic defense attorney and prominent Twitter user, posted a video on Thursday of Bannon speaking during a taping of his War Room podcast. In it, the former adviser urged GOP House representatives to rally behind the former president for the speakership.

"Nobody steps up to him. So, my vote right now is: Why not Trump?" Bannon said in the video. "If you got to have a nasty piece of work in the room negotiating, give me the nastiest. And Trump in a negotiation is a beast, OK?"

He added: "So, why not Trump? Why not? Why not?"

Bannon previously told Newsweek that although McCarthy is "well liked," Gaetz would likely emerge as the House's "de facto" speaker. He framed the discussion over the position as a "proxy war" between the "populace face of MAGA" and the Republican Party's "corporatist" side.

The conservative commentator has also taken to publicly criticizing Trump in recent weeks. Bannon aired his frustration with the former president for not doing more to engage in policy battles, in addition to slamming the sale of $99 digital trading cards depicting Trump as a superhero.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.