In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American political analyst and media executive, Steve Bannon.
He's best-known for being Trump's chief strategist, "flooding the zone with shit", and for attempting to unite far-right, pro-Putin political parties around Europe.
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Bannon worked as an officer in the US Navy in the late 70s and early 80s, after which he worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. He's also produced several Hollywood movies between 1991 and 2016. In 1980,Bannon was deployed to assist with the Operation Eagle Claw...
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.., a failed effort to save 52 embassy staff members from Tehran ordered by Jimmy Carter. In a 2015 interview, Steve stated that this marked a turning point in his political stance, turning him into a "Reaganite". This ideology of a battle between "good and evil" can be...
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clearly seen in his rhetoric. He's also been influenced by the so-called Fourth Turning theory which predicts that we are entering a phase where populism, nationalism and state-run authoritarianism will be on the rise around the world.
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In 2007, Bannon was a founding member of the website Breitbart News,later describing it as "the platform for the alt-right".Time journalist Philip Elliott said that the site pushes "racist, sexist, xenophobic and antisemitic material into the vein of the alternative right".
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Former editor of Breitbart, Ben Shapiro, called Steve a "bully" who "sold out" the website's original idea to back up Trump. In 2018, Breitbart funders Robert & Rebekah Mercer got rid of him,allegedly due to his "impulsive and attention-seeking antics" and high expenditures.
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Bannon served in the board of Cambridge Analytics, acting as its vice president. This company was also owned by the Mercer family, and it allegedly deployed illegal tactics in targeting US voters in the 2016 presidential election. Former Analytica employee, Christopher...
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...Wylie, has claimed that Bannon oversaw the collection of data from Facebook. He called the company a "psychological warfare tool".
Bannon's probably best-known for his work as a chief strategist for Donald Trump. Few days after Trump's inauguration, Bannon told the...
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...NYT that "the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while. I want you to quote this: the media here is the opposition party".
Bannon was interviewed on several occasions by Robert Mueller as part of his investigation...
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...on the Russian interference in the 2016 US election. In Nov 2019, he gave evidence against Roger Stone, saying that Stone was Wikileaks' access point for the Trump campaign, and he was subsequently convicted on all charges, only to be pardoned by Trump.
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The Senate Intelligence Committee also looked into his activities and connections to George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, who both played a role in the Russian interference in the 2016 US election. In Aug 2020 members of the senate intelligence committee said that they...
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believed that Bannon, Jared Kushner, and Don Trump Jr. may have misled them with their testimonies. Bannon later said that he considered the meeting between Don Jr., Kushner, Paul Manafort and the Russian officials "treasonous". He also said that investigators will likely..
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..uncover money laundering activities that involve Jared Kushner and Deutsche Bank. He's called the Trump business a "criminal enterprise". Bannon himself was arrested in Aug 2020 and was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering - Bannon & others...
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...collected money to build a wall at the US-Mexico border, and allegedly made payments to themselves instead. Prosecutors alleged that Steve got more than 1 000 000 million USD in connection with this plan.
Trump pardoned Bannon in Jan 2021.
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Steve has adopted the Russian "firehose of falsehood" propaganda style, calling it "flood the zone with shit". He's stated that "We got elected on Drain the Swamp, Lock Her Up, Build a Wall. This was pure anger. Anger and fear is what gets people to the polls."
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The Economist has stated that Bannon (along with political analyst Stephen Miller) sees Putin as a "fellow nationalist & crusader against cosmopolitanism". He's said that Putin is "standing up for traditional institutions, and he's trying to do it in a form of nationalism".
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He's also a fan of Alexander Dugin, a Russian political strategist, whom he allegedly met in Rome in 2018. He's cited Dugin on various occasions, and has described himself as a fan of his 2009 book The Fourth Political Theory.
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The book has been referred as an inspiration for Russian foreign policy, including the war in Donbas.
Bannon's described Putin's invasion of Ukraine as a "border dispute" and "a Slavic fist fist on the eastern border of Ukraine".
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During 2018, Bannon formed a foundation called The Movement, where he tried to unite right-wing populist parties around Europe. He visited and had talks with many of the pro-Kremlin parties in Europe, including Austrian FPÖ, British UKIP, German AfD, Italian Lega Nord,...
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...Hungarian Fidesz, Spanish Vox, Swiss SVP, and France's National Rally.
Incidentally, all these parties and/or some of their members have been previously featured in #vatniksoup.
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A 2023 study conducted by Brookings Institution revealed that Bannon's podcast broadcasted the highest proportion of disinformation and unsubstantiated statements among 79 political podcasts examined.
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These days Bannon is still flooding the zone with shit with his "Bannons [sic] War Room" show on Rumble. Recently he's also encouraged conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run against Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
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As a traditionalist, Bannon has been married and divorced three times. In 1996, his then-wife accused Steve of domestic abuse, but the charges were later dropped after she failed to appear in court.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
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For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
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One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
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Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
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JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
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As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
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Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
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“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
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The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Lithuanian far-right politician and Seimas member Remigijus Žemaitaitis. He’s best known for his extremist political views and for falling for a scam that convinced him he was flying to New York to meet Elon Musk.
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Like many vatniks before him, Remigijus worked as a lawyer before entering the world of politics. Once just another politician, he gradually embraced far-right nationalism and populism, following a trend seen across Europe over the past 15 years.
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Instead of real policies, he tapped into fear, resentment, and anger, turning 4chan talking points into a populist political strategy. His speeches became more extreme, targeting minorities, Western institutions, and Lithuania’s support for Ukraine.