"Now that Mr. Bannon has resigned, Breitbart has the opportunity to refine its message and expand its influence," Rebekah Mercer wrote of Steve Bannon. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Rebekah Mercer: Bannon 'took Breitbart in the wrong direction'

Conservative megadonor Rebekah Mercer, owner of a partial stake in the alt-right outlet Breitbart News, wrote Wednesday that the publication’s former chief, Steve Bannon, “took Breitbart in the wrong direction.”

“I own a minority stake in Breitbart News (where I have no editorial authority) because I believe it adds an important journalistic voice to the American conversation,” Mercer wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday night. “Stephen Bannon, its former chairman, took Breitbart in the wrong direction. Now that Mr. Bannon has resigned, Breitbart has the opportunity to refine its message and expand its influence.”


Mercer, whose family’s contributions to conservative politicians and causes puts it in the top tier of donors alongside the Koch brothers and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has risen to prominence along with two controversial causes she supports: Breitbart News and President Donald Trump. She argued in her op-ed that her “natural reluctance to speak with reporters has left me vulnerable to the media’s sensational fantasies.”

“Some have recklessly described me as supporting toxic ideologies such as racism and anti-Semitism. More recently I have been accused of being ‘anti-science,’” wrote Mercer, whose family donations have previously backed controversial conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. “These absurd smears have inspired a few gullible, but vicious, characters to make credible death threats against my family and me.”

She declared her support for “a kind and generous United States, where the hungry are fed, the sick are cared for, and the homeless are sheltered” and one “that welcomes immigrants and refugees to apply for entry and ultimately citizenship.”

She professed a desire for smaller, more localized government that she said would more efficiently and responsively serve its constituents. Federal programs, she said, cannot solve societal problems because they are “expensive, ineffective and inflexible.”

“I supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign because he promised to tackle entrenched corruption on both sides of the aisle,” she wrote. “I continue to support President Trump, which does not mean I agree with every position he has taken or every thought he has tweeted. I remain hopeful that he will continue striving to fulfill his campaign promises.”

Mercer also expressed a commitment to “research and the scientific method,” pointing to her multiple science-oriented degrees from Stanford University. She wrote that she opposes “politicized science, in which researchers cannot study certain subjects—or even ask certain questions—for fear of career-ending backlash and persecution.”

“We have lost our way. As my family and I know firsthand, America is now a society that threatens, pillories, and harms those who dare to question the status quo,” she wrote. “But questioning the status quo is more important now than ever. America’s future depends on it.”