Bannon thought the speech played to Biden’s strengths, but only because the MAGA extremism attack was all he had: he couldn’t run on the strength of his own policies, because people weren’t feeling the benefit in their own lives. “The bottom is actually falling out. And Biden is a perfect representative of that,” Bannon said. “The way he speaks, it doesn’t grab people. Trump goes right to the solar plexus. He goes right to the heart of the matter. It’s an emotional connection. I can understand where they’re saying, ‘Hey, are either one of these guys fighting for us?’ Whoever captures that feeling, and I think the MAGA movement’s doing it—whoever captures that feeling, with workers throughout the country, that’s the coalition that you put together for—you could govern the country for fifty years.”
He turned his attention back to the TV. “Are we doing the thing now?” Yes, the House was voting. “We could definitely get rolled here.”
And just then, in case Steve Bannon might have looked like nothing more than some grumpy old man shouting at the TV in his basement on a sunny, seventy-two-degree afternoon, his phone buzzed.
“So what’s the word?” he answered.
On the other end of the line, a breathless tenor delivered a report on the latest maneuvers inside the Capitol. “It looks like the Senate will wait for the House,” Matt Gaetz told Bannon over the phone, “after which you’ll see it signed into law. And then all we’re waiting for then is basically, once that puppy’s signed into law, we go drop the motion to vacate.”
“Perfect,” Bannon said. “That’ll be tomorrow or Monday? ’Cause they’ll sign it tonight.”
“Motion to vacate Monday, probably,” Gaetz said.
“OK, perfect,” Bannon said. “Let’s come in hot. That’s perfect…We’re gonna smoke this fucker out. We got him.”
“He has put on the floor a bill with Democrats…used Democrats to advance Joe Biden’s agenda…”
“And Pelosi. It’s perfect. It’s perfect. It’s awesome…How many no’s will it have?…Womack and these guys can’t be that nuts…We gotta primary that fuck…Unreal…”
“Is it better if I do it alone? Is it better if I get one of my proxies to do it?”
“No, it’s historic. You gotta drop it.”
“Should I go alone or should I have like—”
“No, you should go down with your Praetorian Guard.”
“Five, six, seven?”
“Yes, but you drop it…OK, cool. I’m around. Bye.”
The next day, Gaetz would go on CNN to publicly announce his plan to topple McCarthy, plunging the House back into chaos, with no one having close to enough votes to become the new speaker.
After three weeks and three failed speaker nominees, Republicans would elect Mike Johnson, a little-known Louisiana back‑bencher. After the 2020 election, Johnson had recruited 125 colleagues to sign a Supreme Court brief arguing to overturn the results. The DNC would swiftly attack the new speaker as an “election denying, anti-abortion MAGA extremist.” The Biden campaign, picking up the theme, would announce, “MAGA Mike Johnson’s ascension to the speakership cements the extreme MAGA takeover of the House Republican Conference.” That night, Trump would chime in with a social media post, cheering, “MAGA MIKE JOHNSON!”