Steve Bannon Slams Speaker Johnson Over Spending Bill: ‘He’s A Democrat!’

Steve Bannon, former advisor to Donald Trump and a key figure in his campaign, sharply criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday after Johnson’s attempt to secure government funding collapsed under pressure from Elon Musk and, eventually, President-elect Donald Trump.

“Vote no on this, make the Democrats pass– Oh hell, Johnson’s a Democrat. He’s a Democrat!” Bannon exclaimed during his "WarRoom" broadcast.

Bannon went on a tirade, remarking, “He holds the Bible. He’s got the–he’s got the New Testament wrapped up tight. He can talk happy talk on a handful of social issues. You know, checking his son’s porn sites. I don’t know, all this crazy nonsense. He does all that. He goes down there,” before further lambasting Johnson’s stance.

“He’s a big, deep Christian—except when it comes to showing courage and being courageous and maybe bringing people in. So, it’s not a surprise,” Bannon continued. He mocked the mainstream media’s portrayal of government shutdowns, saying, “Now the media can sit there with a big old shotgun to your head and go, ‘Oh my gosh. No Social Security checks are going out. It’s going to be dark for Christmas Day. Granny is going to freeze. The parks are going to be closed. The Smithsonian is not going to be open on Christmas Eve. Not going to get any mail, no Christmas presents are going to get through.’”

He added sarcastically, “CNN’s going to have that big camera everywhere. Kids crying. No Santa, NORAD’s not going to be able to–NORAD’s not going to be able to track Santa on Christmas Eve. NORAD will not do it. You remember as a kid, every sitting, I got Santa. He’s leaving the North Pole. It’s not going to happen because the government is going to shut down because the government’s out of money.”

Bannon concluded by calling for Johnson’s removal, though such a move would likely plunge the Republican caucus into further disarray, especially given their already slim majority and the turbulent weeks that led to Johnson replacing Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker.

Meanwhile, Trump issued a statement Wednesday afternoon condemning the bipartisan continuing resolution negotiated by Johnson, which was designed to avert a government shutdown on December 20th.

Johnson’s plan proposed maintaining current government funding levels until March 14th while allocating over $100 billion in disaster relief for hurricane-hit regions in the Southeast.

“The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed,” read a joint statement from Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

The statement sharply criticized provisions within the spending bill, stating, “Meanwhile, Congress is considering a spending bill that would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney. The bill would make it easier to hide the records of the corrupt January 6 committee—which accomplished nothing for the American people and hid security failures that happened that day. This bill would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas.”

Addressing the issue of the debt ceiling, the statement noted, “Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let’s have this debate now.”

Trump and Vance further called for a more streamlined approach, urging Republicans to stand firm. “And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want. Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” the statement read.

The message concluded with a stern warning: “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country. Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief.”