Soldier, banker, Breitbart player and voice in Donald Trump's ear: Stephen Bannon boasts a compelling biography. But with the publication of "Fire and Fury" and his ouster at Breitbart, Bannon has fallen from grace.
Image: Reuters/W. McNamee
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1. He really calls himself Darth Vader
It may be playing on his opponents' fears or he could be serious: Both in The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, Bannon likened himself to the force of darkness from Star Wars. "Darkness is good," he told the Reporter. "Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power." Before being fired as Trump's chief strategist, Bannon was often called the ideological puppet master behind many of Trump's decisions, including the infamous travel bans.
Bannon was chief executive of Donald Trump's presidential campaignImage: picture alliance/AP Photo/E. Vucci
2. Bannon empowered the 'alt-right'
Bannon has a long record to support his ideology. He became politically aware in the 1970s, he said, while serving on a US Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean. President Jimmy Carter did not respond hard enough to the Iran hostage crisis, in his view. The event pushed him to the right - clearly anti-Muslim and vaguely racist. The ultraconservative media organization Breitbart yields further insight into his worldview.
It was Breitbart's sensational headlines and conspiracy theories that helped push the Republican Party further right and ushered Trump into the White House. In 2016, Bannon was asked if his alt-right movement was racist and anti-Semitic. "Are there anti-Semites within the alt-right? Absolutely. Are there racists within the alt-right? Absolutely. But I don't think the movement itself is anti-Semitic."
Bannon seems to prefer warlike rhetoric and friend-versus-foe philosophy. It's likely Trump's inaugural speech was largely a product of Bannon's pen. The president spoke of "American carnage" devastating US cities and states, part of a dark and terrifying address that painted the US and the world in stark strokes of downfall. In the escalating tension with North Korea, Trump threatened "fire and fury like the world has never seen."
"Fear is good. Fear is going to lead you to take action," Bannon said in his 2010 documentary, produced to stir up America's new right.
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/M. Sohn
Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
Image: Instagram
Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
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4. He earns money every time you watch Seinfeld
Bannon may rail against so-called liberal Hollywood, but he also profits from it - specifically, with every airing of "Seinfeld." Bannon owns a stake in the famous sitcom from the 1990s after negotiating the sale of its production company to Ted Turner. Jason Alexander, the actor who played Seinfeld's neurotic George Costanza, called it "sad" on Twitter.
This was all before Bannon's turn to the right with Breitbart. By that point in his career, he had already earned millions in the 1980s as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs. It is another talent Bannon seemingly had in common with his former boss: making deals that largely enrich himself.
