Steve Bannon has issued an excoriating attack on Donald Trump’s family by dubbing his daughter Ivanka the “queen of leaks” and calling her husband Jared Kushner “immature”.
Mr Bannon, a former Trump campaign chief and White House aide, said Ivanka Trump was a “fount of bad advice” during the election and once called him an “f***ing liar”.
He claimed Mr Kushner “doesn’t know anything” about Mr Trump’s supporters and blamed him for meetings that left the campaign open to the charge of cosying up to the Russians.
The US president himself is not beyond Mr Bannon’s ire, according to a 7,000-word profile in Vanity Fair magazine of the man credited with helping win Mr Trump office.
Mr Bannon reportedly thinks Mr Trump has just a 30 per cent chance of making it to 2020, the end of his presidential term, given the chance of impeachment or being removed by his cabinet under the 25th amendment.
He also joked the president is “like an 11-year-old child” and told an adviser he would consider running for the White House if Mr Trump does not seek re-election, according to the article.
Mr Bannon’s spokesman denied the latter, saying he is “100 per cent not running for president”.
REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
The comments mark another rift in the souring relationship between Mr Bannon, who took over the running of the Trump campaign in the final months, and the president.
Mr Bannon was credited with convincing Mr Trump to adopt a more nationalistic agenda before the election and joined the White House after the victory.
However he left the Trump administration in August after a bitter feud with other aides and returned to Breitbart News, the hard-right news website of which he is executive chairman .
Allowing Vanity Fair to join him on a speaking tour to Asia for his first major profile since leaving the White House, Mr Bannon does little to disguise his frustration with other aides.
In particular he criticises Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the president who is seen as a moderating influence, and Mr Kushner, her husband, both White House advisers at the age of just 36.
“He doesn’t know anything about the hobbits or the deplorables,” Mr Bannon said of Mr Kushner, referring to the nickname for Mr Trump’s supporters. “The railhead of all bad decisions is the same railhead: Javanka.”
Getty Images
He recalls a meeting designed to bring peace between the aides earlier this year, when Ms Trump accused him of leaking in front of her father. “She’s the queen of leaks,” Mr Bannon replied. “You’re a f***ing liar!” she reportedly hit back.
Click Here: camiseta seleccion argentina
Mr Bannon also appeared to blame Mr Kushner’s meetings with Russian figures during the campaign for leaving Mr Trump open to criticism. An investigation into Russian links has dogged his presidency.
“He’s taking meetings with Russians to get additional stuff. This tells you everything about Jared,” Mr Bannon said. “They were looking for the picture of Hillary Clinton taking the bag of cash from Putin. That’s his maturity level.”
Abbe Lowell, Mr Kushner’s lawyer, responded: “Steve Bannon may regret not being in the White House anymore, but that is not an excuse for him peddling false stories about Jared or anyone else.”
Mr Bannon is also critical of Mr Trump, despite pledging support for his agenda, not least on the decision to fire James Comey, the FBI director.
“It’s the dumbest political decision in modern political history, bar none. A self-inflicted wound of massive proportions,” Mr Bannon said.
A White House official responded: “Especially in light of recent news, for the country, the president’s best decision was firing James Comey. His second best decision was firing Steve Bannon, bar none.”