Steve Bannon Is Now Giving Away Fundraising Food (And Other Campaign Calamities)
Low attendance plagues former Trump campaign and White House aide’s events
Less than two years ago, Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon was orchestrating rallies for candidate Donald Trump in front of dozens of thousands of people in some of America’s largest venues.
As the White House chief strategist until August 2017, Bannon advised the president on matters of national security, immigration reform and health care.
And as chairman of far-right media network Breitbart, he commanded a rapt audience.
Now he can’t even get 40 people to show up for a screening in Staten Island of his production company’s new film, “Trump @ War.”
None of the GOP candidates running in and around Buffalo, New York, responded to an invite from Bannon to attend a rally he headlined for them this week.
Tickets to an upcoming fundraising dinner with Bannon in Florida went from as high as $20,000 to free, as of Monday.
“The Trump Anniversary Dinner with Steve Bannon this Friday will be COMPLEMENTARY TO ALL. We have a donor who will cover our expenses,” Hillsborough County Republican Party vice chairman, Jeff Lukens, wrote to party members in an email Monday.
Steve Bannon on Staten Island. pic.twitter.com/y33qusIoGS
— Josh Robin (@joshrobin) October 23, 2018
In an interview with the New York Daily News, Bannon assured reporters that the low attendance numbers have not bothered him.
“You want grassroots leaders,” he said. “You don’t need massive events.”
“This is all about human contact,” Bannon said. “This is about getting grassroots people excited to either walk precincts, to work phone banks, etcetera.”
Correction, 10:40 a.m. | An earlier version of this report misstated Steve Bannon’s current job.
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