Story highlights "We would not have the Mueller investigation," Bannon said

Bannon said he doesn't believe Trump should fire Mueller

Washington (CNN) Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon believes President Donald Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey was one of the worst mistakes in "modern political history."

In a "60 Minutes" interview that was posted online Sunday night, Bannon was asked whether he considered Comey's dismissal -- which ignited a political firestorm and directly led to the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including potential ties to Trump's campaign -- the biggest mistake in political history.

Bannon responded, "That would be probably -- that probably would be too bombastic even for me, but maybe modern political history."

He went on to acknowledge that if Comey had not been let go, it's unlikely that the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller would have been established.

"I don't think there's any doubt that if James Comey had not been fired, we would not have a special counsel, yes," he said. "We would not have the Mueller investigation. We would not have the Mueller investigation and the breadth that clearly Mr. Mueller is going for."

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