By Charles Switzer
2:44pm PST, Feb 18, 2025
Bannon Escalates Feud With Musk Over Trump's Inner Circle
Steve Bannon intensified his attacks on
Elon Musk, branding the billionaire as a "parasitic illegal immigrant" and accusing him of disrespecting America's traditions and values,
The Daily Beast reported.
In a scathing interview, Bannon slammed Musk's influence in the second
Donald Trump administration, particularly his role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the cost-cutting initiative tasked with identifying $2 trillion dollars in federal spending reductions.
Bannon, a staunch advocate of Trump's early populist movement, sees Musk as an outsider imposing his "freak experiments" on the country. Meanwhile, the Trump White House recently contradicted previous claims, asserting that Musk is not the leader of DOGE, despite both Trump and Musk repeatedly suggesting otherwise.
Here are three major takeaways from Bannon's chat.
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Bannon Warns Against Medicaid Cuts and Criticizes DOGE's Priorities
Bannon has become increasingly vocal about his concerns regarding DOGE's approach to budget reductions, particularly its apparent reluctance to make cuts to the Defense Department.
Instead, Musk's task force has aggressively targeted domestic programs, including Medicaid, which insures over 70 million low-income and disabled Americans.
Bannon warned the administration last week that slashing Medicaid could backfire politically, stating, "Medicaid, you gotta be careful. A lot of MAGAs are on Medicaid, I'm telling you. If you don't think so, you are dead wrong."
He also blasted DOGE for failing to produce substantial savings, pointing out that "we are 30 days away from approving a budget for the entire year with $2 trillion already baked in, and not one penny of anything that DOGE found. It's ludicrous."
Bannon Pushes for Military Spending Cuts, Calls DOGE 'Performative'
A key point of contention for Bannon is DOGE's failure to address the massive U.S. defense budget.
He took aim at
the Pentagon, calling for "$100 billion to be taken off the $900 billion budget right now, which is really a trillion." Despite his sharp critiques, Bannon acknowledged that Musk's role in the administration serves a purpose, describing him as "an armor-piercing shell that's delivering blunt force trauma against the administrative state."
However, he dismissed DOGE's overall effectiveness, calling it "performative" and suggesting that its cost-cutting measures have lacked meaningful impact.
Bannon Teases Plan for Trump's Third Term, Defying Constitution
While Bannon remains critical of Musk's handling of government efficiency, his faith in Trump is unwavering. He revealed that he is "exploring" legal options to secure Trump a third term, despite the clear constitutional restriction imposed by the 22nd Amendment.
Acknowledging the legal challenges of such a move, Bannon admitted, "I don't have right now a tremendous amount of support on this legally."
Previously, he floated the idea that the amendment's language could be interpreted as only applying to consecutive terms, opening the door for Trump to return for an additional presidency.
