Steve Bannon Is Terrified of the L.A. Protests

MAGA-whisperer Steve Bannon—while claiming that he’s “taken out” Elon Musk—believes the L.A. anti-ICE protests are the start of World War III.  

“We’re in the Third World War,” he told The Spectator in an interview published on Monday. “And it’s a battlefield that’s everywhere, including in downtown Los Angeles.” He also posited that the clash between police and protesters is just the beginning of a summer-long Democratic psyop designed to destabilize the country.

“[Democrats] allowed in 10 to 13 million illegal alien invaders into this country. They all must go home. All. Not some. All must go home. They must be deported. They must go home or we don’t have a country, OK?” he said. “We’re in for another summer of riots. They just kicked it off.… The question here is, who told the police to step down? I think there’s only 10 arrests. The LAPD allowed that thing to metastasize. Who gave the order? Whoever. Whoever was the government official that gave that order should be arrested this morning.”

Bannon also echoed Trump, calling for suspension of habeas corpus and the arrest of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, comparing the latter to John C. Calhoun and his conflict with President Andrew Jackson. 

“Andrew Jackson said, ‘Hey, if this guy goes against me, I’m assembling the US Army, and I’m going to hang him from the first lamppost.… If Gavin Newsom is saying, ‘hey, come on, arrest me.’ Hey, well, if he gets in the way of federal officials trying to sort this mess out, he should be arrested.”

Bannon, cantankerous as ever, then moved on to his plans to financially attack Elon Musk and the other monopolistic “tech bros,” who he thinks are a “bunch of fucking pussies.” 

 “We’re going to break up Facebook,” he told The Spectator. “We’re going to break up Google. We’re going to break up Amazon. We’re going to break … I think hopefully we get to eventually break up Walmart. You’ve got too much concentration of private power. It’s obvious it’s anti-populist. It’s anti–economic nationalist.’

This “we” that Bannon keeps referring to is troubling. While he was relegated to the periphery of the MAGAsphere after his fallout with Trump a week after the white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, the former White House chief executive has returned to the fold with a more naked commitment to fascism. It is Bannon who lies at the heart of the internal GOP rift between more traditional conservatives, or “neocons” to him, and the right-wing ethnonationalism of MAGA. 

Trump’s extreme immigration agenda, along with the recent ouster of Elon Musk, aligns seamlessly with Bannon’s perspective, suggesting that he is very much back as a close confidant and adviser to the president. And that will only result in an even more brutal, more authoritarian Trump administration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brother is not popular with the D.C. Bar.

Bradley Bondi was practically crushed in his bid to become the president of the D.C. Bar Association Monday, earning just a fraction of the votes that his opponent, employment lawyer Diane Seltzer, received.

Seltzer earned more than 90 percent of the vote with 34,982 ballots. Bondi, the sibling of the nation’s most prominent attorney, received just 3,490 votes.

The D.C. Bar has approximately 121,000 members, making it the largest unified bar in the country. But the number of votes cast against Bondi makes this election season “extraordinary,” D.C. Bar CEO Robert Spagnoletti explained, during a press call Monday afternoon. That’s because the average number of ballots cast per election for the last five decades has been roughly 7,000, meaning that five times the typical number of voters turned out to naysay Bondi’s chance to run the group.

“Dozens of D.C. Bar members put themselves forward for leadership positions during the call for nominations, and each candidate on the slate is very well qualified to serve in a leadership role,” Spagnoletti said, underscoring the “apolitical” nature of the Bar.

Seltzer was endorsed by nearly two dozen former D.C. Bar Association presidents, who sidled up to her at a time when Donald Trump has made the judiciary a clear target of his administration. The president and his allies have slandered judges who rule against his executive agenda as “rogue” and “deranged,” undermined the courts’ authority by deriding their constitutionally provided powers as “tyrannical,” and have attempted to root out dissent among the branch by placing MAGA loyalists in key seats.

As concerns over Bondi’s familial political ties grew among Bar members, Bondi released a statement insisting that he would not allow the legal association to become a political organization.

“The D.C. Bar is not, and must not become, a political organization,” Bondi said in March. “I will fight vigorously against any attempts externally or internally to change that. The D.C. Bar should continue its role as a nonpartisan, nonpolitical organization committed to the service of its members.”

Donald Trump just rubber-stamped the arrest of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. 

While Trump arrived back at the White House from Camp David Monday, a reporter asked him  what ICE acting Director Tom Homan should do about Newsom, who had dared the border czar to come after him next.

Apparently, Trump thought it would be a brilliant public relations move. 

“I would do it if I were Tom,” Trump replied. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing. He’s done a terrible job.”

“Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows,” Trump continued. 

Newsom swiftly responded to Trump’s green light. “The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation—this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”

Newsom took the president to task Sunday, calling him a “stone-cold liar” for not even mentioning Los Angeles in a phone call the two had, and then bypassing his authority to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday that California would sue the Trump administration for calling in the National Guard, saying that the state’s sovereignty had been “trampled” by the president. In a post on X, Newsom said that Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard was a deliberate move to make things worse. 

“This is a manufactured crisis,” Newsom wrote. “[Trump] is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. constitution.”

Newsom called for states to reject Trump’s overreach. “This is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism that threatens the foundation of our republic,” he wrote. “We cannot let it stand.”

Homan has pushed back on the claim that he threatened to detain Newsom specifically, though he recalled responding to a question about detaining Newsom by saying that no one was above the law. 

Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard is the first time it has been federalized since 1992, when Los Angeles erupted into riots after the police arrest and beating of Rodney King.*

* This piece has been updated to correct the nature of the 1992 riots.

Vice President JD Vance is thoroughly committed to immigration authorities only rounding up the most violent criminals … oh wait, no it looks like he wants to go after the menswear guy from Twitter.

Derek Guy, the menswear enthusiast known for his searing criticism of the right’s sartorial sensibilities, on Sunday publicly shared his status as an undocumented immigrant living in the United States. Now the vice president, who has more than once been the subject of Guy’s posting for his ill-fitting suits and wretched ties, is threatening to have him deported.

In a lengthy post on X, Guy described his experience as an undocumented immigrant, after his family immigrated from Vietnam when he was an infant. “The lack of legal immigration has totally shaped my life. It has made every interaction with the law much scarier. It has shaped which opportunities I could or could not get. It has taken an emotional toll, as this legal issue hangs over your head like a black cloud,” Guy wrote.

“Ultimately, I hope me sharing this story helps push back against the idea that all undocumented immigrants are MS-13 members. I know many people in my position and they are all like your neighbors,” he added.

Clearly still holding a grudge over Guy’s unsolicited fashion advice, the terminally online Vance took the opportunity to level a veiled threat.

“JD Vance I know you’re reading this and you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever,” a user from an account @growing_daniel wrote about Guy’s announcement.

Vance replied to the post with a gif of Jack Nicholson slowly nodding his head with a deranged look in his eye, saying, “Yes!”

While Vance’s post is likely only trolling, the increased threat to undocumented immigrants is very very real, as the administration has pushed to increase the rate of arrests and openly admitted that they are not just targeting people with criminal records or alleged gang affiliations.

Guy had his own response to Vance, and it was true to form. “i think i can outrun you in these clothes,” Guy replied, including a photo of Vance seated onstage at CPAC, where his too-tight suit pants rode up his calves revealing tall black socks and another where Vance sat at a table ready to eat a large brisket sandwich.

“you are tweeting for likes. im tweeting to be mentioned in the National Archives and Records,” Guy wrote in another post.

Guy even told Vance exactly where immigration authorities could find him.

“here is my house” he wrote, adding an image of a Men’s Wearhouse.

Donald Trump still believes sending the National Guard into Los Angeles is a stellar idea.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has already accused the executive order of being unconstitutional, and announced Monday the Golden State’s intention to sue the Trump administration for the overextended breach.

But the president didn’t have the desires of Californians in mind when news of the impending lawsuit broke. Instead, he was waiting for their gratitude.

“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.” 

“The very incompetent ‘Governor,’  Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’ Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are ‘peaceful protests,’” the president continued. “Just one look at the pictures and videos of the Violence and Destruction tells you all you have to know.” 

“We will always do what is needed to keep our Citizens SAFE, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

In an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Newsom warned that the escalating situation in Los Angeles should serve as a warning sign for communities around the country as to just how far the Trump administration will go to execute its anti-immigration agenda.

“This is a preview for things to come. This isn’t about L.A. per se, it’s about us today, and you—everyone watching—tomorrow. Donald Trump is unhinged right now,” Newsom said.

Thousands of locals flooded the streets of Los Angeles over the weekend in a stunning visual protest of the president’s agenda. Protesters blocked off a major freeway, trashed Waymos (self-driving cars), and organized outside City Hall and the Metropolitan Detention Center. In reaction, law enforcement officials shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas and flash bangs into crowds of civilians. The FBI added protesters suspected of throwing rocks at police cars to their Most Wanted list, and ominously threatened to intervene in the anti-Trump display without guidance from California or the White House.

At Trump’s behest, roughly 300 National Guard members arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday to squash the protests—the beginning of what is expected to be a wave of some 2,000 troops issued to the city.