During a new 60 Minutes interview, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon lashed out at Catholic Church officials, saying their opposition to Trump’s decision to end the DACA program was based on economic self-interest.
Bannon, who still identifies as Catholic, was pressed by Charlie Rose about the discrepancy between his hard-line views on immigration — he was involved in the chaotic implementation of Trump’s Muslim ban — and the Catholic Church’s more tolerant view. This week, Cardinal Timothy Dolan characterized Trump’s decision to end DACA as “certainly not Christian, and I would contend it’s not American.”
But Bannon alleged that Dolan has ulterior motives.
“Unable to come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens, they need illegal aliens to fill the churches,” Bannon said. “It’s obvious on the face of it… they have an economic interest, they have an economic interest, in unlimited immigration — unlimited illegal immigration.”
Steve Bannon tells CBS Catholic Bishops are opposed to what's happening on DACA because "they need illegal aliens to fill the churches." pic.twitter.com/WYSyXQYUhJ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 7, 2017
Bannon went on to try and draw a distinction between “doctrine” — an area where he insisted he respects Pope Francis and other Catholic Church officials — and policy matters pertaining to “the sovereignty of the nation.” In the latter area, Bannon characterized the Pope as “just another guy with an opinion.”
That distinction has also been employed by conservative Catholics to dismiss Pope Francis’ concern about climate change.
During another part of the interview, Bannon made a case that top White House economic official Gary Cohn should’ve resigned after he publicly denounced Trump’s defense of white supremacists.
“If you’re going to break with him, resign,” Bannon said. “If you find it unacceptable, you should resign… if you don’t like what he’s doing, and you don’t agree with it, you have an obligation to resign.”
Steve Bannon on Gary Cohn:"If you don't like what he's doing and you don't agree with it, you have an obligation to resign." @60Minutes pic.twitter.com/0NkeFWnDb5
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) September 7, 2017
Following Trump’s comments about how some of the people involved in the white supremacists rally are “very fine people,” Cohn told the Financial Times that Trump “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities.”
But Bannon, by contrast, told Rose he “was proud to come out and try to defend President Trump in the media that day.” He left the White House and returned to Breitbart News on August 18.
WATCH: Former WH Chief Strategist Steve Bannon says "there's no room in American society" for neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates and the KKK. pic.twitter.com/0eRmoLOMu1
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) September 7, 2017
Though Bannon told Rose he believes “there’s no room in American society for neo-Nazis, Confederate sympathizers, and the KKK,” his recent stewardship of Breitbart News suggests otherwise.
During Bannon’s first week back, Breitbart published a defense of a white supremacist organization. On Tuesday night, Breitbart News misleadingly presented a photo of MS-13 gang members in El Salvador as if they were DACA recipients in the United States.
During his first stint at Breitbart News, Bannon described the website as “the platform for the alt-right,” a euphemism for white supremacists. Breitbart featured a “BLACK CRIME” vertical and published articles with headlines like, “Hoist it high and proud: The Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage,” “Stopping Islamic Immigration Is a Matter or Survival,” and “How Many Fort Hood-Style Jihad Attacks Must There Be?”