Democrats spent years turning George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove into a boogeyman whose mere mention sent liberals' blood boiling. Now, members of Congress are doing the same to top Trump hand Steve Bannon — but in much darker terms.

Increasingly, Democratic lawmakers are labeling the former Breitbart chief a "white supremacist" who has no business at the highest echelons of American power.


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) used the term Thursday, and several Democratic members quickly grabbed the baton. It's a sharp escalation in rhetoric that coincides with Bannon's outsize influence in the early days of the Trump White House. And those same members are casting Bannon as a shadow president.

"It is bad enough that the president has put someone who is a pure partisan who’s clearly the puppeteer here, and the president is the marionette," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, described Bannon's influence as "Karl Rove on steroids.”

Republican operatives say that branding Bannon as a racist mastermind of White House decisions may fire up liberals in the short term. But it's both incorrect and certain to backfire with the voters Democrats need to bring back into their fold, they add.

"My guess is, the more the Democrats and news media go after Steve Bannon, the more powerful he becomes within the administration, and the more endearing he becomes to Donald Trump," said John Brabender, a Pennsylvnaia-based GOP strategist.

"It is further alienating conservative and blue-collar Democrats who are thrilled with everything Trump is doing right now," he continued. "I do not believe there is any buyer remorse among Trump voters, and when you look at the battleground states for 2018, that works to President Trump’s advantage."

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment. Press secretary Sean Spicer has previously defended Bannon's role, citing his experience as a naval officer. "He's got a tremendous understanding of the world and the geopolitical landscape that we have now," he said at a Jan. 29 press briefing.

Bannon himself has long denied he's a racist.

“I’m an economic nationalist," he told The Wall Street Journal shortly after the election. "I am an America first guy. And I have admired nationalist movements throughout the world, have said repeatedly strong nations make great neighbors. I’ve also said repeatedly that the ethno-nationalist movement, prominent in Europe, will change over time. I’ve never been a supporter of ethno-nationalism.”

Democratic aides say the anti-Bannon rhetoric doesn't reflect a deliberate top-down strategy. Rather, they say, members are reacting on their own to increasing evidence of Bannon's clout.

"We have discussed that, both in smaller groups and more broadly, how disturbing and dangerous it is that Steve Bannon has the authority that he does," said Wasserman Schultz. "I think Steve Bannon has spent decades giving license ... and amplification to white supremacist views."

Among other things, Democrats cite reports of Bannon's influence in crafting an executive order barring immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. And they point to his reported role in a decision to launch a counterterrorism raid in Yemen.

Trump's decision to place Bannon on the National Security Council's Principals Committee is what caused Pelosi's pointed attack. "It’s a stunning thing," she said at a news conference Thursday, "that a white supremacist, Bannon, would be a permanent member of the National Security Council.”

Democratic members described limited discussions about Bannon but no specific direction from leadership about how to take him on. In addition to statements calling for his removal, a handful of Democrats have filed a bill to remove Bannon from the NSC.

Democrats first raised objections to Bannon in November, when Trump appointed Bannon as his chief strategist, a role on par with Reince Preibus' as chief of staff. At the time, nearly 170 Democratic members signed a letter urging Trump to reconsider Bannon's appointment because of his "ties to the White Nationalist movement." Democratic senators also demanded that Trump fire him.

The furor died down in subsequent weeks. Bannon was on hand when congressional leaders — including Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — met Trump at the White House on Jan. 23.

But that face-to-face failed to stave off the Democratic assault.

"Many people believe he’s deeply unqualified to serve in the role the president has asked him to take on, and he also has a troubling history of bigotry." said Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). "There have been discussions, and of course people are alarmed."

There's also political advantage in the attacks. Democrats see an opportunity to turn Bannon into a figure whose mere presence rallies the Democratic base, as Rove did when he was dubbed "Bush's brain."

"I do think he’s sort of seen as the evil genius behind the presidential throne," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said of Bannon.

Connolly ticked through a list of similarly polarizing figures in previous administrations: Rove, Lee Atwater, Hamilton Jordan. But Connolly said Bannon is unique in the amount of power he's accrued in short order and in the nature of the criticism: that he countenanced white supremacy and anti-Semitism at Breitbart and is seeding those philosophies into Trump's early policies. Republicans, he said, would come to regret working with Bannon.

"I think for political reasons, a number of my colleagues who share these misgivings find themselves in the role of enablers and/or sycophants," Connolly said. "And I believe when this goes sour, they will pay a price for that."

GOP operatives say the Democratic onslaught is doomed to failure.

"The Dems are looking for a bad guy, and they think by making stuff up about Bannon they can create a person their base will hate," said Austin Barbour, a Republican strategist based in Mississippi.

Added Saul Anuzis, who advised Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign: "They need to demonize somebody, and Bannon is the perfect patsy. This is pretty basic politics 101."

But there's one way Bannon differs from a normal political target: He's spent his career eviscerating the establishment of both parties, leaving him with few relationships to fall back on.

"If he hit a bump, there is no personal support mechanism to sustain bad times," said Tom Rath, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire. "But perhaps he has a pretty good hold in the only personal relationship he needs. He has a constituency of one."

Heather Caygle contributed to this report.

