Steve Bannon Hosts at Least 4 Election Deniers Since Jan. 6 Sentencing

Outspoken conservative firebrand Steve Bannon has hosted at least four election deniers on his War Room podcast since being sentenced in October for contempt of Congress.

Bannon's sentence includes four months in prison in addition to a $6,500 fine. He was initially found guilty on two counts in July, but his punishment is much lighter than the six-month prison sentence and $200,000 fine sought by the Department of Justice.

Since the news of his sentencing, he has hosted Alex Jones, Pennsylvania state Representative Frank Ryan, Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and Nevada secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant.

Marchant has been described by Politico as a "leading proponent of the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen." If elected, Nevada's elections could shift dramatically due to the elimination of mail-in voting, decreased early voting, and a change that could include hand counts of ballots.

On his website, Marchant says he was "a victim of election fraud" when running for Congress in 2020. He has touted endorsements from former President Donald Trump, Representative Jim Jordan, Representative Andy Biggs, Representative Paul Gosar, and the House Freedom Caucus.

While a guest on Bannon's podcast on Tuesday, Marchant spoke of a Republican "coalition" of secretary of state candidates nationally that includes Kristina Karamo in Michigan and Mark Finchem in Arizona.

Karamo is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the clerk of Detroit, claiming irregular voting patterns in the city and encouraging voting only in person or picking up ballots in person. Some Democrats view the lawsuit as racist for targeting a city with mostly Black residents.

Finchem, who has been aligned with the conspiracy group QAnon, has made numerous critical statements about the accuracy of the 2020 election. Prior to the primary he won by double digits, he vowed to change Arizona election laws if in a position to do so.

Marchant told Bannon "the coalition was set up to counter and reverse what George Soros and Harry Reid did back in 2004."

"If we get elected, they know exactly what's in for them—you know, their power. They're going to be out of power," Marchant told Bannon. "And that's exactly what they know. And that's why they are so afraid of what we're doing."

He continued, "Everywhere we have a candidate with our coalition, they're just dumping a massive amount of money because they know that they can't win if we're successful."

Marchant told NBC News earlier this year that he wouldn't rule out advocating for an alternate slate of Trump electors if he was secretary of state and Trump were on the 2024 ballot.

Marchant's opponent, Democrat Cisco Aguilar, says on his website that "there are individuals and groups who are determined to take us backwards making it harder to vote," without mentioning Marchant's name.

Gordon Brown, spokesperson for the Nevada State Democratic Party, told Newsweek that a secretary of state's job is "to ensure that every Nevadan, regardless of party, has the right and the ability to make their voices heard."

"Once again, we're seeing Jim Marchant, an extremist candidate who sadly represents much of today's GOP, openly bragging about his plan to disregard any election result he disagrees with," Brown said. "His wild conspiracy theories are more than just reckless, dangerous and unfounded; they're a direct threat to our democracy, both in Nevada and across the country."

Mastriano has been labeled an "election-denying conspiracy theorist" by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which encouraged Pennsylvanians to vote for his opponent, Democrat Josh Shapiro.

Recently, Mastriano joined numerous other conservative election deniers including Roger Stone, General Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell at an event that also propped up QAnon believers and COVID vaccine doubters.

On Friday's show, Bannon encouraged a "call to arms" following a letter written by Frank Ryan that claimed that 240,000 ballots were sent to "not verified" voters in Pennsylvania.

Bannon, who has encouraged Bolsonaro not to concede his election loss in Brazil, was recently called a "true American patriot" by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Newsweek reached out to Bannon, Marchant and Aguilar for comment.