Steve Bannon believed Donald Trump had early-stage dementia and started covert campaign to use 25th Amendment to remove him from office, veteran 60 Minutes producer claims
Steve Bannon believed President Donald Trump had early-stage dementia in 2017 and started a covert campaign to get him removed via the 25th Amendment, a veteran '60 Minutes' producer revealed in a new book.
Producer Ira Rosen wrote in his memoir, 'Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,' that Bannon began reaching out to Trump allies during the summer of 2017 and had conversations with them about the then-president's mental state.
'He believed Trump was suffering from early-stage dementia and that there was a real possibility he would be removed from office by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, where the cabinet could vote that the president was no longer mentally capable of carrying out his duties,' Rosen wrote. 'Bannon began to push that story hard.'
A new book from a former '60 Minutes' producer says that Steve Bannon (pictured) believed President Donald Trump was showing signs of early-stage dementia during the summer of 2017, while he still worked at the White House
Steve Bannon, according to author Ira Rosen, started a covert campaign to get then President Donald Trump (pictured) removed from office via the 25th Amendment because the president 'had no attention span, didn't read and now doesn't listen'
Former '60 Minutes' producer Ira Rosen's new book says that Steve Bannon, while still working at the White House, was pushing for President Donald Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. Rosen also said Bannon had White House ambitions of his own
Former '60 Minutes' producer Ira Rosen's book was released Tuesday. It includes anecdotes about Steve Bannon and Donald Trump
Rosen's book was released Tuesday.
Bannon denied the journalist's account on his War Room livestreamed show Tuesday evening.
'This is another reporter trying to be a grifter and - complete, total fantasy,' Bannon said.
Bannon did suggest there had been 25th Amendment chatter among those in Trump's orbit.
'If you want to find out whoever said about the 25th Amendment go and talk to "anonymous" and talk about John Kelly and talk to Jim Mattis and talk to the cabinet members, who Stephen K. Bannon never talked to a cabinet member or a member of the White House staff, ever, or this guy, ever, after the three-hour interview,' he said of Rosen, referring to the sit-down with '60 Minutes' he did in September 2017 after leaving the administration.
Bannon also referred to himself in the third-person when speaking of his strong support for Trump.
'There is no one in this country that has supported President Trump better, tougher, longer than Stephen K. Bannon,' he said.
Rosen wrote that Bannon told him the president 'had no attention span, didn't read and now doesn't listen. He said Trump repeats himself a lot, telling the same story minutes after he told it before.'
In the text of the book, Rosen included a text message Bannon sent to him.
'You need to do the 25th amendment piece ... BTW brother I never steer u wrong,' it said.
And revealed details about Bannon's planning.
'He mentioned a Sunday prayer service some cabinet officials attended, along with Vice President Pence, as a place where the conspiracy to remove Trump could begin,' Rosen recalled.
The vice president and a majority of the cabinet are needed to declare that the president is unfit for office, according to the 25th Amendment.
Bannon also traveled to Republican superdonor Robert Mercer's home and tried to get him engaged in the effort, Rosen reported.
Instead, it was Bannon the Mercers cut off.
In an episode of the Skullduggery podcast, Rosen goes into greater details about what was motivating Bannon.
He explained to hosts Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman that Trump 'kind of turned on Bannon' after Bannon appeared on the cover of Time magazine in February 2017, just weeks into the new administration.
'And Bannon realized that Trump was repeating the same stories over and over again,' Rosen said. 'And Bannon kept saying this and he wanted to do something about it.'
'Now the secret was that Bannon crazily thought that he could be president,' Rosen continued. 'He would have been very happy to see Trump disappear from the scenes, either through the 25th Amendment, resigning for whatever and he would step in and fill the gulf. And carry the mantle of the Trump followers.'
'But he was delusional about it,' Rosen added.
Bannon left the White House in August 2017 and did a sit-down with '60 Minutes,' the fruit of Rosen's years-long relationship with the political strategist, in September 2017.
Bannon stayed publicly supportive of Trump in the interview.
'But the fact that Bannon tried to build support to have Trump removed, after having served as his most senior adviser in the White House, was astonishing,' Rosen commented in his book.
A Vanity Fair story from October 2017 that describes Trump as being 'increasingly unfocused and consumed by dark moods' lines up with what Rosen said Bannon was pushing as a narrative.
The story featured Bannon warning Trump that he should be more fearful of being removed via the 25th Amendment than by impeachment. Sources told Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman that when Bannon brought this up with the then-president Trump said, 'What's that?'
'A source' also told Sherman that Bannon believed Trump only had a 30 per cent change of making it through his first-term.
Sherman also used a blind quote in the story from a Trump adviser who expressed relief that the president decided not to do a sit-down with '60 Minutes' that fall.
'He's lost a step. They don't want him doing adversarial TV interviews,' the adviser is quoted as saying.
In recent months, Bannon has stepped back into an adviser's role for Trump - and was given a last-minute pardon after being charged with defrauding Trump supporters over a scheme to build part of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
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