Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon says he is "fascinated" by former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

In an interview published Friday in the British magazine The Spectator, Bannon praised the fascist strongman's "virility" and "fashion sense," calling him a "guy's guy."

"He was clearly loved by women. He was a guy’s guy. He has all that virility," Bannon said. "He also had amazing fashion sense, right, that whole thing with the uniforms. I’m fascinated by Mussolini."

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Bannon, who is touring Europe, has faced accusations in the U.S. of promoting racist and fascist politics, though he has identified himself as a populist. He told The Spectator that "fascism" was a term used to smear populism.

He also insisted that the two — populism and fascism — "are not even related."

"Populism, fascism, who cares? It’s a media smear of the populist movement," he said.

Bannon was forced out of the White House last August after White House chief of staff John Kelly John Francis KellyMORE was given broad authority to clean house in a West Wing that had been hobbled by infighting and leaks.

Bannon returned to his position as executive chairman of Breitbart following the ouster but was forced out of that position in January following quotes he made in the book “Fire and Fury.”

Bannon was quoted making disparaging remarks about President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE's family and was a primary source for the book, which was a political headache for the White House.