Bannon is a 'huge supporter' of this Biden admin official and wants her to have 'more power'

31 January

Less than two weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump is rapidly purging the government of both political appointees of his predecessors along with thousands of career civil servants. But one of his former top advisors is hoping he'll keep one of former President Joe Biden's officials in her role for the next four years.

In a Friday interview with New York Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat, Steve Bannon — who helped lead Trump's successful 2016 campaign for the presidency — expressed hope that Trump would stick to the ideology of "populist nationalism" that defined the early days of his first term. And he argued that Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Lina Khan, who Biden appointed to her role in 2021, is a great torch-bearer of that ideology.

"I would be a huge supporter of Lina Khan remaining, and I would love to see her given more power," Bannon said in response to Douthat asking him what he would have Trump do if he could "wave a magic wand."

"I think we ought to go and break up Silicon Valley, because obviously in their scale they haven’t performed very well," he added.

Khan — who is expected to officially resign from her role in the coming weeks — was a fierce opponent of tech giants like Amazon and Meta, and brought multiple lawsuits against them as FTC chair. She also challenged big corporate mergers like the proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertson's, and investigated "surveillance pricing," in which companies use artificial intelligence to advertise products at person-specific levels based on their browser activity.

Bannon has remained a steadfast opponent of Silicon Valley and has railed against tech billionaires who helped elect Trump to a second term, like Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Bannon and Musk had a public confrontation over H-1B visas for foreign workers, with Bannon arguing that they were being used as a means of denying employment opportunities to Americans seeking jobs in the tech sector, while Musk countered that foreign workers were better trained and more capable than Americans.

As FTC chair, Khan can technically stay in her position until her seven-year term ends in 2028. However, it's expected that Trump appointee Andrew Ferguson will replace her. Less than a week into his tenure at the top of the FTC, Ferguson shut down public comment on the same surveillance pricing scheme that Khan investigated. He also shuttered public comment on corporate mergers and acquisitions, along with public comment on corporate price gouging.

Click here to read Douthat's full interview with Bannon (subscription required).

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