STEVE Bannon has endorsed Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings, calling him a “brilliant guy”.
It marks the first time Donald Trump’s former strategist has spoken about the adviser publicly. Bannon made the comments during interviews for a new book by journalist Peter Geoghegan, titled Democracy for Sale.
Bannon, who has backed several notorious far-right figures, predicted that the Prime Minister will become increasingly populist after Brexit.
“A brilliant guy. I think Cummings is very smart where he puts his efforts. What I like about him is he has the ability to focus on the main things,” he told Geoghegan.
Bannon said politically he believes Johnson will continue moving to the right and develop “more economic nationalistic tendencies”. He predicts that the Tory leader will “adapt his policies to become more populist over time”.
The former investment banker has extensive links to far-right nationalist movements around the world and aims to unite “the Judeo-Christian West”.
He has called Tommy Robinson the “backbone” of the UK, defended Hungary’s nationalist PM Viktor Orban and praised Marine Le Pen, the anti-immigration French politician.
During the interviews Bannon refused to say if he is advising Johnson currently, or has met Cummings.
After Johnson became PM last year, Bannon claimed to have crafted speeches for him.
Addressing Brexit, Bannon said there is “one choice: hard out, no deal” but added he did not think this would be disruptive. Last year leaked UK Government documents revealed ministers did believe No Deal would cause problems.
It is believed that Cummings privately supports a No-Deal outcome. Recent Brexit talks have ended with the UK and EU “still far away” from an agreement, which is due by October 31.
Also in the interviews, Bannon explains he started coming to the UK frequently in 2013 to meet people like Ukip leader Nigel Farage.
Democracy for Sale documents how dark money corrupts the democratic system and features several interviews with Bannon. The book comes out next month.
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