Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist to Donald Trump, has criticised Elon Musk for making himself “too central” to the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election campaign.
Speaking to GB News, Bannon suggested that Musk’s approach was flawed, arguing that campaigns should focus on the movement rather than individuals.
The criticism comes after what Bannon described as a “big defeat” in the election, where he claims Democrats effectively targeted Musk as part of their strategy.
“Elon did make a mistake and made himself too central into the campaign,” Bannon told GB News.
He added: “It can’t be about yourself. It has to be about the cause. It has to be about the movement.”
Bannon suggested that Musk’s high-profile involvement ultimately played into the hands of their opponents. He made a clear distinction regarding who can centre a campaign around themselves.
“Trump can make it about himself because Trump embodies all of it, right?
“All the rest of us are kind of servants to that, to the movement, and we have to make sure we’re putting the movement first,” he explained.
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“When you go on stage and you have a packed audience, that doesn’t mean it’s filtered out to the hinterland,” Bannon cautioned.
Bannon was blunt about the electoral outcome: “People should know we got our asses kicked. It was a big defeat.”
He detailed the scale of the loss, describing it as “almost, I think, eight or nine, 10 points.”
The former Trump strategist also addressed campaign financing, noting “there was $100million spent.”
He claimed their side may have even outspent Democrats in certain areas, stating: “I think we actually outspent them in Wisconsin.”
Bannon rejected financial excuses for the defeat, asserting: “People can’t whine about the Democrats – the Democrats outworked us.”
“They ‘Alinsky-d’ Elon,” he said, referring to tactics associated with activist Saul Alinsky. He elaborated that Musk “kind of played into it, they made him the focus point at the end.”
According to Bannon, this approach allowed Democrats to minimise the former president’s presence in their messaging.
“Trump’s name was barely mentioned, Trump was barely mentioned,” he noted.
