Steve Bannon is out of the White House, back at Breitbart, and out to assert his political authority once and for all. But his first target — this month’s Republican runoff in the Alabama special Senate election — is a weird fit.
First, Bannon and Breitbart, long used to pumping up underdogs, are going with the frontrunner: former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, the top vote-getter in the August primary and the leader in recent polls.
Second, Bannon and his news site — which has a slightly less heated, more complicated view of LGBT issues than some conservative outlets, and is infamous for stunts like attacking House Speaker Paul Ryan for sending his children to a religious school — have forged an odd-couple alliance with the religious right.
And then there’s the fact that the move seems grounded in trying to re-establish Breitbart and Bannon as a viable threat to the Republican establishment. Backing Moore bucks President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Sen. Luther Strange, the GOP establishment favorite who was appointed to the seat earlier this year.
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