Latest news with #Bannon
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why in the World Was John Fetterman Dining With Steve Bannon?
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was spotted Monday night chatting with Steve Bannon, according to Politico Playbook. Fetterman, who has displayed his own dramatic rightward shift, was reportedly dining at a top MAGA hangout near Capitol Hill with Breitbart's Matthew Boyle, when the conservative news site's old director wandered up and spoke to the pair for roughly 20 minutes. Bannon took over Breitbart in 2012, and directed the site to publish patently pugnacious rhetoric and conspiracy theories cooked up by far-right activists and white supremacists. In 2016, Bannon stepped down to join Trump's presidential campaign as its CEO, and went on to mastermind the authoritarian MAGA movement. Fetterman broke with his party yet again on Monday to condemn the anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles. 'I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos,' he wrote in a post on X. 'My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,' he added. Bannon has a slightly different view of the unrest in Los Angeles, which has been spurred on by Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard, and now the Marines. 'We're in the Third World War,' he said in an interview published on Monday. 'And it's a battlefield that's everywhere, including in downtown Los Angeles.' Last month, a damning report said that some of Fetterman's staff were concerned about his increasingly erratic behavior, and Republican lawmakers flocked to support the Democratic senator with whom they'd inexplicably come to agree. Fetterman was one of the more than two dozen Democrats to support the Laken Riley Act, which would, among other things, allow the government to detain undocumented immigrants accused of committing nonviolent crimes.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Here's why a Pleasant Grove splash pad closed shortly after opening
PLEASANT GROVE (ABC4) — A new splash pad was unveiled in Pleasant Grove City over the weekend, but now the city announced it will be closed until further notice. On Saturday, a grand opening was held for Cook Family Park, featuring its splash pad, an all-abilities playground, a skate park, basketball courts, and more. In an online announcement Sunday night, Pleasant Grove City wrote that the new splash pad received a few reports of people slipping, causing its closure. 'With safety as our number one priority, we will be closing it immediately as the contractors will be applying additional treatment to the surface area to prevent further issues. We apologize for any inconvenience and aim to maintain a safe environment,' the city wrote. ChatGPT is 'experiencing issues,' OpenAI says: What we know so far Bannon calls for special counsel probe of Musk Utah woman sentenced after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud Heat persists throughout Utah with above-average highs Proud Boys lawsuit over Jan. 6 faces steep legal odds, high political cost Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Steve Bannon Admits He'd Hate If Democrats Did 1 Thing Trump Is Doing
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon admitted Sunday that he would be a lot more vocal about the privacy concerns surrounding Palantir, the tech company currently streamlining data on U.S. citizens for the federal government, if a Democrat were leading the charge. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March calling for comprehensive data-sharing across federal agencies, which The New York Times reported in May includes the IRS, Social Security Administration, Education Department and ICE. The report raised serious concerns over government surveillance powers and personal privacy rights. Palantir addressed the article Monday, calling it 'reckless and irresponsible' and full of 'false allegations,' and stating that civil liberties are 'at the center of our mission.' 'Some of the Palantir stuff that's going up now, I think everybody's gotta take a step back,' said Bannon on 'Sunday Night With Chuck Todd,' whose eponymous host went on to ask how Bannon would feel if a Democratic administration were merging these databases. 'I think 'War Room' would open every show about it,' the far-right strategist and podcast host replied. 'We're pretty upset about it. The MAGA base is not happy. And Palantir is a Democratic company.' Bannon notably helped launch Cambridge Analytica, the consulting firm exposed in 2018 for having harvested the data of millions of Facebook users in order to influence voters in the 2016 election, but is now echoing privacy watchdogs and civil liberties organizations. Palantir was co-founded by pro-Trump tech billionaire Peter Thiel and has received more than $113 million in federal spending since January and a $795 million contract with the Department of Defense in May, according to the Times report. 'President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate information silos and streamline data collection across all agencies to increase government efficiency and save hard-earned taxpayer dollars,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rodgers told Newsweek in June, albeit without confirming the company tapped to spearhead the effort. The stated aim of merely improving preexisting access to such data hasn't convinced skeptics, however, with social media users warning that a 'master database' will inevitably be weaponized against citizens who 'dare to dissent' — and 'must be rejected by all.' Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, argued as much in April. 'The ultimate concern is a panopticon of a single federal database with everything that the government knows about every single person in this country,' he told Wired. 'What we're seeing is likely the first step in creating that centralized dossier on everyone in this country.' Numerous Palantir employees who spoke with the Times in May said they're 'unnerved' by the project, warning that a master database could be 'vulnerable' if hacked. Bannon, while certainly not the voice of reason on other issues, has a more dire view. 'They're techno-feudalists,' he told Todd. 'They believe in networks, not nation states.' Gavin Newsom Slams Trump's Arrest Endorsement As 'Authoritarian' Meta Becomes The Latest Big Tech Company Turning To Nuclear Power For AI Needs Hillary Clinton Exposes Trump's Narcissistic Motive For Sending Troops To LA
New York Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump's Crackdown on L.A. Protests Contrasts With His Jan. 6 Response
When violent protests originate from the right — such as those in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, or at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — President Trump has chosen to downplay the violence or suggest the protesters have a noble cause and have been treated unfairly. But when protests originate from what he views as the political left, Mr. Trump often expresses an open desire for law enforcement and the military to harshly crack down on them. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump ordered that 2,000 National Guard troops be deployed on the streets of downtown Los Angeles to quell protests against his administration's immigration enforcement efforts. That was followed by orders on Monday to send 700 Marines to join them, and then later in the day, with an order for 2,000 additional National Guard troops. Even though the demonstrations have been largely contained to specific areas and mostly peaceful, Mr. Trump claimed on social media that the protesters were 'insurrectionist mobs' and that Los Angeles had been 'invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals.' In endorsing harsh law enforcement tactics against immigration protests, Mr. Trump is picking a political fight on ground that Republicans believe is advantageous terrain. Stephen K. Bannon, a former adviser to Mr. Trump, said on his podcast on Monday that the president's response was 'quite smart.' 'He just won a massive national election on this very topic,' Mr. Bannon said, magnifying Mr. Trump's showing in a race he won by less than 2.3 million popular votes. Mr. Bannon accused Democratic-led jurisdictions of inviting in undocumented immigrants and refusing to arrest violent protesters. 'This is why President Trump has to bring in the National Guard and federalize them,' he said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bannon Wants Special Counsel Probe Into Musk's Contracts and Drug Use
Steve Bannon has called for a special counsel investigation into Elon Musk's lucrative federal contracts and the extent of his drug use. The MAGA civil war between the two former Trump administration figures continued over the weekend on Sunday Night with Chuck Todd, with Bannon—who already suggested deporting the South African-born tech billionaire—saying Musk should face further consequences. 'I think there have to be formal investigations,' Bannon told the former Meet the Press anchor during a discussion about SpaceX and Starlink, Musk's satellite Wi-Fi service. SpaceX should be nationalized, Bannon reiterated, adding that he shared the White House's reported security concerns about Starlink being installed there. When Todd asked who would be leading such investigations, Bannon replied that 'the best way to do it is as a special counsel that can kind of oversee everything.' 'Pull the security clearance for the drugs, temporarily. Investigate the whole drug situation,' Bannon replied. In May, The New York Times reported that Musk's drug use, which Trump speculated had a role in their blow-up last week, frequently involved ketamine, as well as Adderall, ecstasy and mushrooms. Musk, The New York Times also reported, was alerted to drug tests at SpaceX ahead of time. The White House has refused to say whether Musk was drug tested during his time as de-facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. On Sunday, Bannon agreed with Todd when he said that Musk 'never would have passed a security clearance as must a mid-level staffer.' Also on Todd's show, Bannon took issue with a March report that Musk, who has extensive business interests in China, was expected to receive a briefing about potential U.S. military action in that country. 'Why would you need a briefing at a highly classified level, in the tank, at the Pentagon on the China war plan?' asked Bannon, who called Musk an 'agent of influence.' For his part, Musk has described Bannon as a 'communist r-tard' and a 'criminal.' Bannon spent four months in prison last year for defying a Jan. 6 House Committee subpoena. In February, he pleaded guilty in state court to one felony count of scheming to defraud donors to his We Build the Wall fundraising campaign. Four years prior, Trump had pardoned Bannon amid his indictment in federal court over that campaign.
