Former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon has accused US President Joe Biden of trying to stir up hatred of his political enemies to get them killed. Bannon made the comments after being “swatted” – his home was stormed by heavily armed police based on a false report – for the second time this summer.
“The White House is trying to use this type of violence,” Bannon told the UK’s Daily Mail on Friday, one day after Biden vilified supporters of former President Donald Trump as “extremists” who threaten to destroy American democracy. “They’re stirring up unstable people on the far left to do this.”
Police in Washington were called to Bannon’s home on a false report on Thursday evening, just minutes before Biden began his scathing primetime speech. Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned those who don’t agree with the American majority as “extreme.” Last week, Biden likened the “Make America Great Again” philosophy of Trump’s supporters to “semi-fascism” and accused “MAGA Republicans” of posing “a threat to our very democracy.”
“This is 100% triggered by the White House – the White House spokeswoman earlier that day, Biden’s announcements over the last couple of days,” said Bannon, formerly chief White House strategist and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign CEO. He added that the swatting calls were “very specific” and were intended to trigger police to use “deadly force.”
Bannon, who normally broadcasts his “War Room” radio show from his home, wasn’t there during the latest swatting incident. He was targeted in a similar incident last July, when armed police swarmed his home after a caller said a gunman was inside and had shot someone.
Another top Biden critic, US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, was swatted last month, when a caller falsely reported that a man had been shot in a bathtub at her Georgia home. After waking to loud knocks and seeing people and lights outside, she opened her door to police with guns drawn. The caller who made the false report later claimed to be angry about Greene’s opposition to child sex-change operations and admitted wanting to “swat” her.
Swatting calls have led to multiple deaths in the US. For example, a Kansas man was killed by police in 2017, after a 911 caller reported that he had shot his father and was holding remaining family members hostage.
“What happened to [Greene] and myself is, they’re trying to get us assassinated by using law enforcement,” Bannon said. He added that would-be assassins could use other methods to target Biden’s enemies. “Biden is stirring up his most unstable and radical element to use any means necessary to physically harm or suppress dissenting voices.”
Nevertheless, Bannon vowed to keep pushing for conservative causes. “I’m never going to stop, so they’ll have to kill me first.”