Steve Bannon’s interview with Ted Koppel for CBS Sunday Morning is fascinating on many levels. First off, this is an interview that I doubt CBS would have conducted, let alone aired, just a year or two ago.
That they are willing to speak to a figure seen as so “controversial” or “divisive” by the establishment tells you that things have changed in the Bari Weiss era at CBS.
Weiss, the former New York Times writer, turned founder of the Free Press and now head of CBS News is often portrayed as taking all of these news outlets to the right. I’d disagree with that, I think she’s shifting the media she works with back to the middle and speaking to more than just a liberal Democrat audience.
I met Weiss briefly when she gave a talk to a small group in Toronto more than a year ago. She’s very much a liberal in the classical sense, but also believes in open dialogue which is what I think you get in this full interview.
Don’t get me wrong, this interview isn’t a free pass for Bannon and his MAGA views. Koppel pushes back and gives his own opinions, which are clearly, in some areas, at odds with Bannon’s.
Koppel seems at ease talking with Bannon, though, and they have the kind of discussion that we should have more of. They are exchanging views, debating, exploring and discussing what is happening in the body politic of the United States at a pivotal time.
Things are changing in American politics.
There has been a lot of ink spilled about the impact of MAGA on the Republican Party, the split between MAGA/MAHA Republicans and the establishment. Bannon understands these divides well and makes the case for his own brand of populist, nationalist, right-wing politics.
He also understands what is happening on the left side of the political spectrum.
While less media time, outside of Fox News, has been spent on the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America within the Democratic Party, they too are seeing a divide. Bannon, as a keen watcher of politics, understands why someone like Zohran Mamdani was able to win New York City’s mayoral race when the establishment wrote him off.
He put it all down to ground game and getting out the vote, which is what he says the midterms will be about.
The way Bannon sees it, both parties are heading in populist directions.
The reason Bannon is interesting to listen to, whether you agree with him or not, is because he takes policy seriously and isn’t dismissive of his opponents. He also still has clout in the MAGA movement and gives you insight into how they view things and why, something you won’t get from most of the mainstream media in Canada or the United States.
As I’ve long said, to deal with someone, you have to understand where they are coming from. That includes Canadians listening to people like Bannon as we try to figure out how to get a better trade deal.
Remember when that was a thing that the Carney government talked about?
About Canada...
Yes, of course Canada and the tariff war came up in the conversation, but not as much as I expected. Being a former naval guy, Bannon, not surprisingly, pivoted this all back to defence rather than trade, though it is important to remember that for much of MAGA, the two issues are highly connected.
A couple of the ideas that Bannon expressed to me back in February 2025, when I interviewed him at the same location as Koppel, resurfaced in this interview. He spoke of hemispheric defence, of Canada’s Arctic being our soft underbelly instead of our bulwark.
Most people listening to his comments on Canada in this interview will pay attention to his comments on tariffs and unfair trade. What caught my ear was what China or Russia might do to us: what Russia did to Ukraine, simply seizing territory.
“The Canadians should be very concerned that their northern border, which used to be their bulwark for security, could put them in a situation like Ukraine. That the Chinese and/or the Russians could take a bite and say, ‘Hey, look, you know, we’ve got it. You take it from us,’” Bannon said.
Given the way those two countries operate, it’s not a crazy idea. Mark Carney, though, is busy reviewing plans for a possible American invasion, and The Globe and Mail is publishing opinion pieces about non-violent resistance forces being used to counter a looming American invasion.
Yet the Canadian establishment will tell you Bannon is the crazy one.
It’s interesting to go back and watch my interview with him from nearly two years ago and see how consistent he has been on some of these issues.
Every Canadian should listen to this and quit worrying about a US takeover and be truly concerned about totalitarian CHINA! Good on you Brian!
I agree. Trump's populist views brought us back to the center from where we were a decade ago: a clear vision moving forward toward peace, prosperity, and trustworthy governance. Terrorism led us to fear and an overabundance of public safety—a blanket of dependency. This has been unhealthy for our society, and a reversal of this trend needs to happen. Smaller government, deregulation, and, of course, the bureaucracy of public unions have to be addressed.