Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is calling on the president to withhold giving the State of the Union address until after he is acquitted by the Senate in his upcoming impeachment trial. Bannon spoke to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Bannon said Trump's impeachment trial will be the "trial of the century," as Democrats have committed "the crime of the century" by attempting to nullify the results of the 2016 presidential election.
"This is about the direction of the United States of America," Bannon said. "It's about the peace and prosperity of the world. Donald Trump's policy is working. And this is why [Nancy Pelosi] slow-walked this. She invited him to do the State of the Union, and then she purposely slow-walked this because she wants in the middle of the trial -- and I can see The New York Times' headline: 'Under a Cloud of Uncertainty, Trump Addresses the Nation.' He has to be acquitted. He will be acquitted and exonerated. That should happen. And then you do the State of the Union, because the whole world will watch this."
Bartiromo pressed Bannon to clarify what exactly he's calling on President Trump to tell Speaker Pelosi about the State of the Union address.
"Tell Nancy Pelosi," Bannon explained, "'When you deliver it, and we have a trial, and after I'm acquitted, I'm going to come and have the State of the Union, not until then.'"
Bannon also said the president should demand witnesses, saying there's nothing that former Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney "can say that's going to be that big a deal," according to Bannon. The former chief strategist also said Trump should invite House members like Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan to help make his defense.
"All I know is that President Trump has to protect the office of the presidency for future presidents, as he said, about executive privilege," Bannon continued. "But there's nothing about the details of this thing that will be any big deal, offset by the whistle-blower, by Brennan, by Biden, by Hunter Biden, by the I.G. report. This is the crime of the century. This was an attempted coup on a sitting president, a sitting president who turned out to be right."
Bannon's advice appears to have reached the president. Trump tweeted Bannon's full interview with Maria Bartiromo following his appearance on Fox News.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020