Steve Bannon, a former White House chief strategist and one of the loudest voices in MAGA world, has a prediction: the Republican Party is about to have a civil war. Not a metaphorical one, either. He told the Financial Times in an interview published Saturday that the fighting starts Wednesday, Nov. 4, the day after the midterm elections.
The lame-duck session, Bannon said, will be "so brutal," featuring "monster battles" over the debt ceiling, a large spending bill, defense policy and artificial intelligence. For investors, that's not just political theater. Those fights could ripple into defense contractors, technology stocks and Treasury yields.
Elon Musk's PAC Backs GOP Campaign
Bannon had kind words for Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's America PAC and its contributions to the party's campaign in Texas. Musk was reportedly expected to spend between $100 million and $200 million on voter turnout efforts through America PAC, with the spending spanning Texas, Maine, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accused Musk of attempting to "buy" a Texas Senate seat. Musk, for his part, has relocated the headquarters of Tesla, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) and X to Texas.
Then there's the money on Trump's side. Bannon said Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., will spend close to $400 million on midterm candidates. That, he suggested, was not exactly the plan. "This will be an extreme wake-up call for the president . . . I know he didn't intend to spend any of it," Bannon said.
Senate Control Hangs In Balance
Polling shows Democrats could take the Senate, even though the GOP majority looked secure last year. Bannon believes Republicans can hold it, but he's "very concerned" about Georgia, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas and Ohio.
In Texas, Trump-backed Ken Paxton is neck and neck with Democrat James Talarico. Texas last elected a Democrat to the Senate 38 years ago, which makes the current polling stand out. Bannon's read on Paxton: he's "in trouble."
As for the House, Bannon called a Republican majority a "miracle" but "still doable," adding that turnout will decide it.
Both parties are vying to secure a Senate majority in the upcoming elections. On the Democratic side, former President Barack Obama campaigned and urged voters to use the midterm elections as a "circuit breaker" against Trump.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by MarketDash editors.
