Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former adviser, mused Thursday about placing the severed heads of FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci on pikes outside the White House.
Mr. Bannon, who was recently charged with fraud and awaiting trial, made the suggestion during a taping of an episode of his podcast, “War Room: Pandemic,” which was aired live on YouTube.
YouTube subsequently removed the video for violating its policy against inciting violence, while Twitter reacted by outright banning the podcast’s account from its platform.
“We will continue to be vigilant as we enforce our policies in the post-election period,” YouTube spokesperson Alex Joseph told The Washington Times.
A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed the account, @WarRoomPandemic, was “permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules, specifically our policy on the glorification of violence.”
Mr. Bannon made the remark about Mr. Wray and Dr. Fauci — the heads of the FBI and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, respectively — while speaking about what Mr. Trump should do in the event he is reelected.
“Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci,” said Mr. Bannon, 66, a political strategist and former member of both Mr. Trump’s election campaign and briefly his administration.
“Now I actually want to go a step farther but I realize the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man,” he said. “I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I’d put the heads on pikes, right, I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you’re gone — time to stop playing games.”
In addition to removing the video, YouTube issued a single “strike” to the channel associated with Mr. Bannon’s podcast, limiting its functionality and putting it at risk of further repercussions.
The channel is unable to upload content to the video service for a week, according to YouTube.
Mr. Bannon served as chairman of Mr. Trump’s campaign prior to serving as White House strategist in early 2017. He served as chairman of Breitbart News before and after the Trump administration.
He was arrested in August on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with allegedly defrauding donors of an online campaign. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
The presidential race between Mr. Trump and Democratic challenger Joseph R. Biden ended Tuesday, but the election’s outcome remained uncertain as of early Friday morning with the latter leading.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.