Bannon pledges not to go to war vs. House Republicans
Source: Politico
The Breitbart chief tells top House GOP campaign strategists that his focus is on Mitch McConnell.
By ALEX ISENSTADT and ELENA SCHNEIDER 11/03/2017 10:35 AM EDT
Top House GOP campaign strategists met with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday morning an indication party leaders are attempting to avert the divisive primaries that Bannon is organizing against Senate Republicans.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and John Rogers, the organizations executive director, went to the Capitol Hill townhouse that serves as a base of operations for Bannon and his Breitbart News website. Bannon pledged to Stivers and Rogers that his focus is not on toppling establishment-oriented House incumbents in the 2018 midterm elections, according to two people familiar with the meeting, but rather on waging an all-out war against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bannon has launched a national effort to target Senate GOP incumbents and other McConnell-aligned Republican candidates.
There was a broad understanding that both sides wouldnt always agree. At one point during the meeting, which went on for nearly 40 minutes, discussion turned to North Carolina Rep. Robert Pittenger, whose primary opponent, Mark Harris, is running with Bannons support.
Yet the overall tenor of the meeting centered on how both sides could work together and there was agreement that a Democratic House takeover would have profound consequences for President Donald Trump's administration. Stivers and Rogers asked whether Bannon would be open to signing an NRCC fundraising appeal, and the former White House aide said he would consider it.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/03/bannon-meets-with-house-gop-campaign-strategists-244514