President Trump on Monday sympathized with his former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, who has launched a self-described “war” on the Republican establishment.
“There are some Republicans, frankly, that should ashamed of themselves,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting. “So I can understand fully how Steve Bannon feels.”
Bannon has promised to back primary challenges against any Senate Republican who opposes Trump.
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The president stopped short of explicitly endorsing that effort, but made it clear it is GOP lawmakers — and not him — who should receive the blame for their stalled agenda.
“We’re not getting the job done,” Trump said. “And I’m not going to blame myself, I’ll be honest. They are not getting the job done.”
Bannon’s push has excited many Trump supporters frustrated with the slow pace of the president’s legislative agenda, such as measures repealing ObamaCare and overhauling the tax code.
But it has angered members of the GOP establishment, who fear it could further derail their agenda in Congress and hurt the party in next year’s midterms.
Bannon touted his push over the weekend at a Christian conservative summit. He spoke two days before Trump’s Monday meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
The top GOP senator has long been a target of conservative activists, as well as Trump, and Bannon has once again put a target on his back.
“Yeah, Mitch, the donors are not happy,” Bannon said at the Values Voter Summit. “They’ve all left ya. We’ve cut your oxygen off, Mitch, OK?”
Trump appears to be using the effort to motivate Republican senators to get their legislative agenda back on track.
He said he has “great relationships” with most GOP senators, who he called “really, really great people” who want to pass major legislation. But he said results are the only thing that matter.
“I’m not happy about it and a lot of people are not happy about it,” the president said. “We need tax cuts. We need healthcare.”
