Whilst focusing on bringing audits to battleground states including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, Bannon seemingly invited any conspiratorial figure he could find on to his show to spread election fraud conspiracy theories and advocate for local audits in the guest’s state.
Some of Bannon’s guests, including Lindell, promoted “canvassing” efforts in which individuals knock on doors to ask residents about their voting history. The Department of Justice warned that these sorts of efforts could violate laws against voter intimidation.
In late September, the Arizona senate released the results of its audit, concluding that President Biden actually received more votes than originally reported in Maricopa County. Bannon, with nowhere to turn, grasped at straws as he attempted to point to a vague table in the draft report to claim massive voter fraud had occurred. It hadn’t.
Recently, Bannon and his lackeys began touting another forensic audit in Arizona, this time in Pima County. Bannon’s pipe dream to decertify the election in Arizona doesn’t seem as though it will be ending anytime soon.
QAnon-aligned Grassroots Movements
Bannon: “We control this country. We've got to start acting like it.”
In December 2020, Bannon began hosting local Arizona tea party activist and attorney Dan Schultz to discuss nullifying the election results. By February, Bannon’s discussions with Schultz had pivoted away from overturning the election to instead concocting an operation to “invade” the Republican party.
Schultz’s plan – dubbed the Precinct Strategy – was simple enough: Schultz and Bannon encouraged listeners to pursue local election positions that are often left open due to lack of public knowledge. As explained by ProPublica, precinct officers are the “worker bees of political parties” that have a surprising amount of influence over how local elections are run. These positions play a role in deciding poll workers, choosing how elections are conducted, and even help determine who supervises elections, among other critical responsibilities. Bannon used his platform to promote his guest’s claims that by filling these positions, his followers could “take over” elections in counties that may otherwise not have strong far-right strongholds.
Soon after Schultz appeared on Bannon’s show, his precinct strategy made its way to far-right message boards that are often safe havens for white nationalism, hate speech, and conspiracy theories. Schultz himself appeared on a number of QAnon-connected shows to tout his plan and encourage extremist listeners to get involved in their local precincts.
In October, Schultz began hawking a QAnon-linked website for his precinct committee members to connect state by state. At this point, Bannon repeatedly advocates for the strategy and has made it clear that he believes his audience is destined to “control this country.”
Unfortunately, their plan appears to be working. Various QAnon-connected groups and individuals are continuing to push for fellow believers to become precinct committee members and advocating for election audits across the U.S.
Impact
Bannon was banned from Twitter and YouTube after repeatedly calling for violence and suggesting live on air that Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray be beheaded. Now, Bannon listeners can turn to Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts to listen to his show and watch his broadcast on the QAnon-linked channel Real America’s Voice, which is platformed by ViacomCBS’ Pluto TV.
Bannon is not the loudest voice on the far-right, but his connections to GOP politicians showcase his outsized influence on Republican politics. Bannon platforms a wide range of GOP politicians who have leverage over national and state-specific policies. Appearing on Bannon’s show seems to be a “litmus test” for leading Republicans to agree with Bannon’s lies and extremist claims about the 2020 election. They always do.
Republican politicians who have appeared on Bannon’s show over the past year include: Sen. Josh Hawley, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Tim Burchett , Lauren Boebert, Claudia Tenney, Elise Stefanik, Alabama Senate candidate Rep. Mo Brooks, Arizona state Senate President Karen Fann, Arizona secretary of state candidate and state Rep. Mark Finchem, Arizona state Sens. Wendy Rogers andSonny Borelli, Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania state Rep. Dawn Keefer, Georgia state Sen. Brandon Beach, Georgia lieutenant governor candidate and state Sen. Burt Jones, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Mayor of McAllen, Texas, Javier Villalobos.
Bannon’s extremism and calls for revolution and violence are overtly dangerous. The platforms that continue to carry his show after a year of nonstop election lies are all culpable for his erosion of American democracy.