Steve Bannon: Democratic candidates ‘running like they are running for student council president’

Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, compared the campaigns of several White House hopefuls to candidates vying for student council president.

Mr. Bannon, the former executive editor of Breitbart News, made the analogy during a television interview while discussing the campaigns of Democratic contenders Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Mayor Pete Mayor Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and former Texas congressman Beta O’Rourke.

“They have some terrific young candidates, but nobody has broken out,” Mr. Bannon said on the Fox Business Network. “I think one of the reasons they are in single digits, is Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete, Beto, across the board, they are running like they are running for student council president. They are not talking about China. They’re not talking about Iran. They’re not talking about Venezuela. This is a very dangerous world right now.”

“You’re running to be commander in chief of the great nation of earth, and you’ve got to talking about it and engaging on it,” said Mr. Bannon.

Ms. Harris, Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. O’Rourke are among more than 20 candidates currently seeking the Democratic nomination to run in 2020 against Mr. Trump. Recent polling has placed all three of them well behind the party’s two current frontrunners: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont Independent.

Mr. Bannon, 65, served as executive chairman of Breitbart News until joining Mr. Trump’s presidential election campaign in August 2016. He subsequently served as Mr. Trump’s chief strategist for around seven months prior to parting ways with the administration in August 2017.