Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is warning that Republican leaders and conservative activists could face prison time if the GOP fails to win control of Congress in 2026 and loses the 2028 presidential election.
“And I will tell you right now, as God is my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison—myself included,” Bannon said during a speech at a Conservative Partnership Institute event.
“They’re not gonna stop. They are getting more and more and more radical. And we have to counter that.”
Bannon, who served four months in prison in 2024 after defying a congressional subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee, has remained a vocal figure in Trump-aligned politics.
In 2025, he avoided further jail time by pleading guilty in a separate fraud case involving his “We Build the Wall” nonprofit. He had previously received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump for federal charges related to the same case.
Urging Urgency
In his latest remarks, Bannon stressed the need for Republicans to act fast and aggressively.
“We have to counter it with more action, more intense action, more urgency. We’re burning daylight,” he said.
He called on Senate Republicans to follow Trump’s lead and scrap the 60-vote filibuster rule, especially as the government shutdown drags on.
Bannon said the GOP can’t afford to let procedural hurdles stall its agenda: “We’ve got to put aside these structural barriers and get on with it.”
Bannon also argued that Trump’s executive orders must be codified into law quickly.
“If we don’t take this to the maximum, a maximalist strategy now with a sense of urgency and in doing this seize the institutions, if we don’t do that now, we’re going to lose this chance forever because you’re never going to have another Trump,” he said.
Reaction to Democratic Wins
His comments came after Democrats scored significant victories in the 2025 off-year elections.
These included Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City’s mayoral race and successful redistricting reforms in California through Proposition 50.
Bannon told Politico that Trump must act immediately to roll back these results.
He urged the Justice Department to sue California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the redistricting measure and called for investigations into Mamdani’s citizenship status.
“Get those two things rolling,” Bannon said.
He warned that Mamdani’s win could inspire a new generation of left-wing leaders in U.S. cities:
“You’re going to see a whole new group of Mamdanis in these major urban cities because they’re just flooded with immigrants.”
All In on Trump
Bannon also used the moment to criticize what he sees as a weak and outdated Republican establishment.
“The Republican Party has no following. It has a bunch of donors, and it has the Fox TV network, and it has Karl Rove and all these worn-out ideas you see in the House and the Senate. It’s just embarrassing.”
“You’re either with MAGA or you’re not,” he said.
“You double and triple down with Trump. If you’re not prepared to do that, you’re going to get smoked.”
Recent polls show Democrats currently leading in projected outcomes for the 2026 midterms.
According to a YouGov survey conducted on Nov. 5, 41 percent of respondents believe Democrats are more likely to win control of the House, compared to 30 percent who said the same about Republicans.
As Bannon sees it, the stakes go beyond political power: they could shape the legal fates of Trump allies.
And with Democratic momentum building, his message to Republicans is simple: go all in, or risk losing everything.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Steve Bannon” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.