Former White House strategist Stephen Bannon said Monday that President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE will need the GOP establishment on his side in order to secure reelection in 2020 given that the president has Republican challengers.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bannon warned that GOP primary challengers such as former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld William (Bill) WeldRalph Gants, chief justice of Massachusetts supreme court, dies at 65 The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden visits Kenosha | Trump's double-voting suggestion draws fire | Facebook clamps down on election ads Biden picks up endorsements from nearly 100 Republicans MORE could pose a threat to Trump should they gain any traction among GOP moderates.

“We need the Republican establishment on board,” Bannon told the AP.

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“If these guys can peel off 3% or 4%, that’s going to be serious,” he said of Weld and other GOP candidates.

Bannon went on to tell the news service that “only Trump can beat Trump.”

The former Breitbart News chief left the White House in 2017 after clashing with then-chief of staff John Kelly John Francis KellyMORE and has since taken to advising far-right nationalist candidates in the U.S. and abroad.

He recently testified at the criminal trial of Roger Stone Roger Jason StoneJustice IG investigating Stone sentencing: report Romney says Trump's protest tweets 'clearly intended to further inflame racial tensions' Bannon trial date set in alleged border wall scam MORE, a close Trump associate, telling a jury that Trump viewed Stone as a link to WikiLeaks, the website responsible for publishing stolen emails from Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE's campaign and the Democratic National Committee.