Steve Bannon banned by Twitter for calling for Fauci beheading
Peter Beaumont THE GUARDIAN
Twitter has banned the account of the former Trump adviser and surrogate Steve Bannon after he called for the beheading of Dr Anthony Fauci and the FBI director, Chris Wray, and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.
Peter Beaumont THE GUARDIAN
Twitter has banned the account of the former Trump adviser and surrogate Steve Bannon after he called for the beheading of Dr Anthony Fauci and the FBI director, Chris Wray, and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Steve Bannon appeared to endorse violence against Anthony Fauci, the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert, and the FBI director, Chris Wray.
Speaking on his podcast, the War Room, which was distributed in video form on a number of social media outlets, the far-right provocateur appeared to endorse violence against Wray and the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert.
“Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci, no I actually want to go a step farther but the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man,” Bannon said.
“I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England. I’d put their heads on pikes, right, I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats, you either get with the programme or you’re gone.”
Twitter banned Bannon’s War Room account permanently, saying it had suspended the podcast account for violating its policy on the glorification of violence.
The same video was on Facebook for about 10 hours before it was also removed.
Bannon’s intervention came amid mounting concern over the risk of violence following this week’s nailbiting US elections, amid highly inflammatory rhetoric from Trump and his allies, who have falsely said Democrats were trying to “steal the election”.
Philadelphia police arrested two men who were allegedly involved in a plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday night. Police were tipped off, possibly from a concerned family member of one of the men, who had driven 300 miles from Virginia.
The moves against Bannon came hours after Facebook also banned “Stop the Steal”, a group involved in organising protests this weekend throughout the US against the presidential vote count.
One post, shared by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, declared: “Neither side is going to concede. Time to clean the guns, time to hit the streets.”
The increasingly heated language around the election has also included interventions from more mainstream figures, including the former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who appeared to call for election workers in Pennsylvania to be arrested.
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News, Gingrich amplified Trump’s false complaints of election rigging and mused about what he believed was the solution.
“My hope is that President Trump will lead the millions of Americans who understand exactly what’s going on,” Gingrich said. “The Philadelphia machine is corrupt. The Atlanta machine is corrupt. The machine in Detroit is corrupt. And they are trying to steal the presidency. And we should not allow them to do that.
“First of all, under federal law, we should lock up the people who are breaking the law,” he continued. “You stop somebody from being an observer, you just broke federal law. Do you hide and put up papers so nobody can see what you’re doing? You just broke federal law. You bring in ballots that aren’t real? You just broke federal law.”
Speaking on his podcast, the War Room, which was distributed in video form on a number of social media outlets, the far-right provocateur appeared to endorse violence against Wray and the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert.
“Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci, no I actually want to go a step farther but the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man,” Bannon said.
“I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England. I’d put their heads on pikes, right, I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats, you either get with the programme or you’re gone.”
Twitter banned Bannon’s War Room account permanently, saying it had suspended the podcast account for violating its policy on the glorification of violence.
The same video was on Facebook for about 10 hours before it was also removed.
Bannon’s intervention came amid mounting concern over the risk of violence following this week’s nailbiting US elections, amid highly inflammatory rhetoric from Trump and his allies, who have falsely said Democrats were trying to “steal the election”.
Philadelphia police arrested two men who were allegedly involved in a plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday night. Police were tipped off, possibly from a concerned family member of one of the men, who had driven 300 miles from Virginia.
The moves against Bannon came hours after Facebook also banned “Stop the Steal”, a group involved in organising protests this weekend throughout the US against the presidential vote count.
One post, shared by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, declared: “Neither side is going to concede. Time to clean the guns, time to hit the streets.”
The increasingly heated language around the election has also included interventions from more mainstream figures, including the former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who appeared to call for election workers in Pennsylvania to be arrested.
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News, Gingrich amplified Trump’s false complaints of election rigging and mused about what he believed was the solution.
“My hope is that President Trump will lead the millions of Americans who understand exactly what’s going on,” Gingrich said. “The Philadelphia machine is corrupt. The Atlanta machine is corrupt. The machine in Detroit is corrupt. And they are trying to steal the presidency. And we should not allow them to do that.
“First of all, under federal law, we should lock up the people who are breaking the law,” he continued. “You stop somebody from being an observer, you just broke federal law. Do you hide and put up papers so nobody can see what you’re doing? You just broke federal law. You bring in ballots that aren’t real? You just broke federal law.”
Steve Bannon's podcast barred from Twitter after he made beheading comment about Fauci, FBI Director Wray
Dan Mangan CNBC
Former top Trump aide Steve Bannon's podcast was permanently suspended by Twitter and had an episode yanked from YouTube.
He implied that FBI Director Christopher Wray and government infectious-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci should be beheaded and have their heads put on pikes outside the White House.
Those comments came while Bannon is free on bond in a federal criminal case in which he is accused of defrauding donors to a nonprofit group purportedly dedicated to building a wall on the southern border of the United States
Dan Mangan CNBC
Former top Trump aide Steve Bannon's podcast was permanently suspended by Twitter and had an episode yanked from YouTube.
He implied that FBI Director Christopher Wray and government infectious-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci should be beheaded and have their heads put on pikes outside the White House.
Those comments came while Bannon is free on bond in a federal criminal case in which he is accused of defrauding donors to a nonprofit group purportedly dedicated to building a wall on the southern border of the United States
.
© Provided by CNBC Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, following his arraignment hearing for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in New York, August 20, 2020.
Former top Trump aide Steve Bannon's podcast was permanently suspended by Twitter and had an episode yanked from YouTube after he implied that FBI Director Christopher Wray and leading government infectious-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci should be beheaded and have their heads put on pikes outside the White House.
Those comments by Bannon on Thursday came while he is free on a $5 million release bond in a federal criminal case in which he is accused of defrauding donors to a nonprofit group purportedly dedicated to building a wall on the southern border of the United States.
A spokeswoman for Bannon said that he was not suggesting that Fauci and Wray actually be beheaded, but was speaking metaphorically by referencing the bloody politics of Tudor-era England. She also said he has "never called for violence of any kind."
A spokesman for prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to comment Thursday night when asked whether they will ask a Manhattan federal court judge to either revoke Bannon's bond, or to issue a gag order on him.
Bannon made the remarks about Wray and Fauci on his "War Room: Pandemic" podcast, when he was discussing a hypothetical second term for President Donald Trump.
Bannon ran Trump's 2016 campaign and served as a senior White House advisor until Trump fired him in August 2017.
Bannon during the podcast said, "Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci."
"Now I actually want to go a step farther, but I realize the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man," Bannon continued.
"I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I'd put the heads on pikes, right, I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you're gone – time to stop playing games."
"Blow it all up, put Ric Grenell today as the interim head of the FBI, that'll light them up, right," Bannon said.
Grenell is a hard-core Trump loyalist who served as former acting director of national intelligence and ambassador to Germany.
Bannon's co-host Jack Maxey then said, "You know what, Steve, just yesterday there was the anniversary of the hanging of two Tories in Philadelphia, these were Quaker businessmen who had cohabitated, if you will, with the British while they were occupying Philadelphia."
"These people were hung. This is what we used to do to traitors," Maxey said.
Bannon replied, "That's how you won the revolution. No one wants to talk about it."
"The [American] revolution wasn't some sort of garden party, right?" Bannon said. "It was a civil war. It was a civil war."
Twitter said it suspended Bannon's account because of the remarks on "War Room."
A Twitter spokeperson in a statement said, "The
@WarRoomPandemicaccount has been permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules, specifically our policy on the glorification of violence."
YouTube removed the episode, but other War Room episodes remain available.
Alex Joseph, a spokesperson for YouTube, which is owned by Google, said, "We've removed this video for violating our policy against inciting violence. We will continue to be vigilant as we enforce our policies in the post-election period."
YouTube has a three-strikes policy before an account is terminated. While the Bannon show's channel is still available, the strike from this incident temporarily disables uploading for at least a week, according to YouTube.
Bannon's spokeswoman, in an emailed statement, said, "Mr Bannon did not, would not and has never called for violence of any kind."
"Mr. Bannon's commentary was clearly meant metaphorically. He previously played a clip of St. Thomas More's trial and was making an allusion to this historical event in Tudor England for rhetorical purposes," the spokeswoman said.
"Mr. Bannon has been openly critical of FBI Director Chris Wray for weeks and has called for his firing for his failure to investigate and address Hunter Biden's hard drive, and that has been in Director Wray's possession since in Dec 2019," she said.
"In addition, Mr. Bannon has supported comments from the White House calling for the immediate firing of Dr. Fauci."
In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bannon compared himself to the famous chief minister to England's King Henry VIII, who had him beheaded.
"I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors," Bannon said in that interview.
Bannon was arrested Aug. 20 off the coast of Connecticut aboard a 150-yacht owned by Chinese billionaire
Bannon and three associates, Timothy Shea, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, are accused of defrauding donors as they raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border for the We Build the Wall nonprofit group.
Bannon has pleaded not guilty in the case.
He is free on a $5 million bond secured by $1.75 million in cash or property while awaiting his trial, scheduled for next May.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, after the men were charged, said in a statement, "The defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction."
"While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle."
Prosecutors say Bannon received $1 million in funds from We Build the Wall, and that to divert that money used a separate nonprofit he had already created, whose ostensible purpose was "promoting economic nationalism and American sovereignty."
Former top Trump aide Steve Bannon's podcast was permanently suspended by Twitter and had an episode yanked from YouTube after he implied that FBI Director Christopher Wray and leading government infectious-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci should be beheaded and have their heads put on pikes outside the White House.
Those comments by Bannon on Thursday came while he is free on a $5 million release bond in a federal criminal case in which he is accused of defrauding donors to a nonprofit group purportedly dedicated to building a wall on the southern border of the United States.
A spokeswoman for Bannon said that he was not suggesting that Fauci and Wray actually be beheaded, but was speaking metaphorically by referencing the bloody politics of Tudor-era England. She also said he has "never called for violence of any kind."
A spokesman for prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to comment Thursday night when asked whether they will ask a Manhattan federal court judge to either revoke Bannon's bond, or to issue a gag order on him.
Bannon made the remarks about Wray and Fauci on his "War Room: Pandemic" podcast, when he was discussing a hypothetical second term for President Donald Trump.
Bannon ran Trump's 2016 campaign and served as a senior White House advisor until Trump fired him in August 2017.
Bannon during the podcast said, "Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci."
"Now I actually want to go a step farther, but I realize the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man," Bannon continued.
"I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I'd put the heads on pikes, right, I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you're gone – time to stop playing games."
"Blow it all up, put Ric Grenell today as the interim head of the FBI, that'll light them up, right," Bannon said.
Grenell is a hard-core Trump loyalist who served as former acting director of national intelligence and ambassador to Germany.
Bannon's co-host Jack Maxey then said, "You know what, Steve, just yesterday there was the anniversary of the hanging of two Tories in Philadelphia, these were Quaker businessmen who had cohabitated, if you will, with the British while they were occupying Philadelphia."
"These people were hung. This is what we used to do to traitors," Maxey said.
Bannon replied, "That's how you won the revolution. No one wants to talk about it."
"The [American] revolution wasn't some sort of garden party, right?" Bannon said. "It was a civil war. It was a civil war."
Twitter said it suspended Bannon's account because of the remarks on "War Room."
A Twitter spokeperson in a statement said, "The
@WarRoomPandemicaccount has been permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules, specifically our policy on the glorification of violence."
YouTube removed the episode, but other War Room episodes remain available.
Alex Joseph, a spokesperson for YouTube, which is owned by Google, said, "We've removed this video for violating our policy against inciting violence. We will continue to be vigilant as we enforce our policies in the post-election period."
YouTube has a three-strikes policy before an account is terminated. While the Bannon show's channel is still available, the strike from this incident temporarily disables uploading for at least a week, according to YouTube.
Bannon's spokeswoman, in an emailed statement, said, "Mr Bannon did not, would not and has never called for violence of any kind."
"Mr. Bannon's commentary was clearly meant metaphorically. He previously played a clip of St. Thomas More's trial and was making an allusion to this historical event in Tudor England for rhetorical purposes," the spokeswoman said.
"Mr. Bannon has been openly critical of FBI Director Chris Wray for weeks and has called for his firing for his failure to investigate and address Hunter Biden's hard drive, and that has been in Director Wray's possession since in Dec 2019," she said.
"In addition, Mr. Bannon has supported comments from the White House calling for the immediate firing of Dr. Fauci."
In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bannon compared himself to the famous chief minister to England's King Henry VIII, who had him beheaded.
"I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors," Bannon said in that interview.
Bannon was arrested Aug. 20 off the coast of Connecticut aboard a 150-yacht owned by Chinese billionaire
Bannon and three associates, Timothy Shea, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, are accused of defrauding donors as they raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border for the We Build the Wall nonprofit group.
Bannon has pleaded not guilty in the case.
He is free on a $5 million bond secured by $1.75 million in cash or property while awaiting his trial, scheduled for next May.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, after the men were charged, said in a statement, "The defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction."
"While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle."
Prosecutors say Bannon received $1 million in funds from We Build the Wall, and that to divert that money used a separate nonprofit he had already created, whose ostensible purpose was "promoting economic nationalism and American sovereignty."
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