In an unexpected twist, Steve Bannon, a key figure in the MAGA movement, expressed admiration for progressive Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on Governor Gavin Newsom’s This is Gavin Newsom podcast.
Despite his well-known conservative stance, Bannon identified Khanna as a leading economic populist within the Democratic Party. During the second episode of the podcast, he commended Khanna’s economic policies, referring to them as a form of “economic patriotism.” He even joked that Khanna’s perspective closely aligned with his own and that of economist Peter Navarro—both of whom have been advocates for “economic nationalism” and have served jail time for contempt of Congress.
In addition to Khanna, Bannon also lauded two other Democrats—Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)—for their strong economic populist positions.
