Bannon to GOP leaders: Do not expect ‘sweetness and light’ from conservatives

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon said GOP leadership shouldn’t expect “sweetness and light” from the rest of the Republican Party if they don’t get behind President Trump’s agenda.

In an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, Bannon said that Republican leaders in Congress and the White House will be “one big happy family” if the GOP falls in line behind the president — but that he doesn’t expect that to happen.

“If the Republican Party on Capitol Hill gets behind the president on his plans and not theirs, it will all be sweetness and light, be one big happy family,” Bannon told the Post. Bannon added that he doesn’t expect any “sweetness” anytime soon.

{mosads}

Bannon left the White House on Friday and will return to leading the conservative online media company Breitbart. He pledged that at Breitbart he would “go to war” for Trump’s conservative agenda.

Trump praised his former chief strategist on Twitter hours after his ouster, adding that at Breitbart, Bannon would be “competition” for the mainstream “fake news” media.

“Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at [Breitbart News] … maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition!” Trump said Friday.

But in the interview, the former top Trump aide described his administration as dangerously divided on policy matters.

“No administration in history has been so divided among itself about the direction where it should go,” he told the Post.