The morning after Democrat Doug Jones' stunning victory over Republican Roy Moore in the special election for Alabama's Senate seat, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) came out swinging against Stephen Bannon, the chairman of Breitbart News and former White House chief strategist. Bannon stumped hard for Moore, especially in the campaign's waning days, as part of his "war" on the GOP establishment.
"This guy does not belong on the national stage. He looks like some disheveled drunk that wandered onto the political stage," King said of Bannon, speaking to CNN's Chris Cuomo. A blinking Cuomo sat in silence as King ripped into Bannon before finally interjecting: "Peter King, I know where you're from and I know you like to knuckle up every now and then, but did you just call Steve Bannon a disheveled drunk?" King replied, "No, very precise — I said he looks like one."
Aesthetics aside, King said that he didn't take nearly as much of an issue with Bannon's politics as he did his morals — or lack thereof. "He's not representing what I stand for," King said. He also claimed that Tuesday's election results were "a revulsion by people at [Bannon's] style, at his type of divisive views," adding that Bannon "encourages racial division." In a tweet earlier Wednesday, King again ripped Bannon as "morally vacuous":
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While Bannon may the scapegoat de jour for Republicans like King — who were reluctant to support a candidate accused of sexually assaulting teenagers — people in the White House apparently blame Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y) for Moore's loss.
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