Steve Bannon warned on Wednesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson needs help from the MAGA movement after House Republicans failed to garner enough votes to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Republicans have taken aim at Mayorkas in recent months as conservatives ramp up their attacks on President Joe Biden's handling of border security. The impeachment case accuses the secretary of refusing to comply with immigration laws, resulting in what the GOP describes as an "invasion" along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Supporters of the impeachment articles included Johnson, who told reporters ahead of the vote Tuesday that he was confident his party had the numbers to go through with the charges. Republicans hold a razor-slim majority in the House, meaning the GOP could only afford to lose the vote of two of its members to pass the articles.
However, the impeachment charges failed to pass on a 214-216 vote. All 212 Democrats voted against it along with four Republicans, one of whom is Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher.
In response to the failed vote, former White House chief strategist Bannon warned on his War Room podcast that Johnson needs the help of Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida or Republican Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, two prominent MAGA figures.
"Speaker Johnson, and I don't know if it's Matt Gaetz or Elise Stefanik, somebody's gotta help this guy because he's bleeding out and he's bleeding out now on the basic mechanics of what you have to do," Bannon said.
Newsweek has reached out to Johnson and Bannon via email for comment.
Bannon's comments come as Gallagher told Hugh Hewitt, a conservative political commentator, that he did not surprise GOP leadership with his vote against Mayorkas' impeachment as he "whipped no for over a month." He said that House Republicans didn't need to go straight into a vote if the numbers weren't there, according to Politico.
In response to Gallagher's remarks, Bannon—seemingly taking aim at Johnson—said on the social media platform Gettr, "If true, damning evidence of gross negligence."
However, Johnson has rejected blame on Wednesday over the GOP's failure to impeach Mayorkas and a battle on the bipartisan border security bill.
While speaking to reporters, Johnson was asked how he would respond to critics that the current state of Congress is because of his "inexperience," to which he responded by saying "I don't think that this is a reflection on the leader, this is a reflection on the body itself."
"The nation is divided, we lament that. The difference is the chasm between the two parties right now is wider than it's ever been and there are lots of emotions," Johnson said. "The process is messy sometimes, but the job will be done."
Gallagher was not the only one who warned against the impeachment. Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado warned in the days leading up to the vote that impeaching the current Homeland Security secretary could open a door "as Republicans that we don't want to open," warning that future presidents and their administrations would be subjected to the same "scrutiny."
"The next president who is a Republican will face the same scrutiny from Democrats," Buck said while speaking with MSNBC last Thursday. "It's wrong, and we should not set this precedent....This is not a high crime or misdemeanor. It's not an impeachable offense. This is a policy difference."
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Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
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