MAGA firebrands are demanding answers from Steve Bannon after bombshell texts suggested he told Jeffrey Epstein that Donald Trump was “beyond borderline” and should be removed from office.
The exchanges between Bannon and the child sex predator took place in Trump’s first term, shortly after the Democrats won the 2018 midterms and as speculation emerged about Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior and fitness to serve.
In one text message, Bannon, who worked as the president’s chief strategist and remains an influential ally, appears to suggest that Trump ought to be removed via the 25th Amendment–the Constitutional clause that allows presidents to be ousted if they are declared unable to discharge their duties.
In one particular exchange, dated December 31, 2018, Epstein notes that it had been a “Hell of. Year” but the following year would be even wilder.
“We either own 2019 or it will surely own us,” Bannon replied, later adding: “Going to blow him up right our (sic) of the box– WH has zero plan to punch back– Fort Apache with no cavalry enroute.”
“And no soldiers in the fort,” Epstein replies. “He really is borderline. Not sure what he may do.”
Bannon then goes even further, telling Epstein: “I think it’s beyond borderline — 25 amendment.”
The texts were revealed in the latest tranche of more than 3.5 million documents the Department of Justice released into Epstein’s crimes and networks.
But MAGA conservative figures have slammed Bannon, demanding that he explain whether he was part of what appears to be an anti-Trump plot.
“I remember all the 25th Amendment talk back in the first term. It was really ugly,” said General Michael Flynn, who worked as Trump’s National Security Adviser.
“If Bannon AND Epstein were behind it, Bannon needs to be brought in for questioning. And he needs to address this and all the other sh!t he was doing on behalf of Epstein.”
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who broke ranks with Trump to release the Epstein files, added: “I agree completely.”
“Steve Bannon went to jail for Trump (I was there), but back on 1-1-19 (after Dems took the House) he was texting with Epstein about 25th amendment,” she wrote on X.
“Also, there is no excuse for having such a friendly relationship with Epstein, post conviction, 2018-19. None.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Bannon about the texts, which are among many showing the conservative warrior’s chummy relationship with the notorious sex offender.
Other documents also reveal that he had been advising Epstein on how to handle resurrected allegations that he was a serial pedophile, including which lawyers to hire and how to push his narrative in the media.
Some files even exposed the pair’s obsession with the Vatican–including one message in which Bannon suggests he wanted to “take out” Pope Francis, whose progressive ideals he despised.
But the text exchanges suggesting Trump be removed under the 25th Amendment are particularly sensitive, given that the MAGA warrior is still regarded as an ally of the president, despite being fired from his first administration in 2017.
Towards the end of 2018, reports also began to emerge that people in the administration had been so unnerved by what they viewed as Trump’s erratic conduct that they discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove his power.
Bannon was fired in 2017 after becoming increasingly isolated in the West Wing.
Since then, he has staunchly defended Trump on his WarRoom podcast, went to jail after refusing to testify about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S Capitol, and has repeatedly talked up the idea that Trump may continue to run for another term despite the constitution preventing this.
Earlier this month, after agents seized ballots and other voting material relating to Trump’s defeat in Georgia six years ago, Bannon also revealed what he says was the real reason for the surprise raid: to vindicate MAGA’s longstanding view that Joe Biden was an illegitimate president and seize victory at the next two elections.
“Yes, it is about 2026, and it’s about 2028,” he said, warning Democrats: “We’re never going to ever allow you to steal the election like you did in 2020, and you’re not going to use illegal alien invaders.”
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