I find the idea of Steve Bannon undermining President Trump in order to run for President himself hard to believe but I appreciate the insight.
Thank you for a measured reply. I appreciate the seeming cognitive dissonance of the idea, but consider these two points. First, how can a person be 100% behind a POTUS while concomitantly talking about their own possible upcoming run for the office and which big GOP donors would back them?
Perhaps even more telling is point #2. Upon his departure from the WH, Bannon said the following: The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over.
You have to think about that statement for a while before it sinks in. But if you carefully weigh it, you’re likely to conclude that Bannon was equating himself with the presidency that we fought for and won. When he left the WH, it ended.
Now that is a revealing comment. It shows that Bannon believed *he* was more of what we fought for when we elected Trump than Trump was himself. When that is your belief, then of course your first loyalty is to yourself. YOU, not Trump, are the valuable part of the presidency, the essence. So your first and foremost goal must be to advance yourself—at Trump’s expense if necessary.
I’m merely expounding on Bannon’s own statement. He may have said more than he intended to. In any event, it was a profoundly unhealthy attitude, and it’s far better for Trump to have Bannon gone.