Steve Bannon: Catholic Church needs 'illegal aliens' to fill its US churches, says former Trump adviser
He also said the portrayal of him as a 'street fighter' was correct
Donald Trumpās former chief strategist has launched a scathing attack on the Catholic churchās stance on immigration - claiming āthey need illegal aliens to fill the churchesā.
In his first extensive interview since he was fired last month, Mr Bannon also said the mediaās portrayal of him as a āstreet fighterā was correct.
āI think thatās why Donald Trump and I get along so well. Donald Trumpās a fighter. Great counter puncher,ā he said. āGreat counter puncher. Heās a fighter...Iām going to be his wing man outside for the entire time, to protect.ā
Mr Bannon, who is from a Catholic family and attended a Catholic preparatory school in Virginia, made the comments amid the ongoing controversy over Mr Trumpās announcement that he was scrapping a programme that had permitted up to 800,000 children and young people to remain in the US.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) scheme was introduced in 2012 by Barack Obama and provided those eligible for it, protection from the threat of deportation.
Mr Trumpās decision to terminate the scheme was widely criticised. Among those to voice criticism was Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Catholic Archbishop of New York.
In an interview with SiriusXM, Mr Dolan said while protecting the USās borders was āessentialā, penalising undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children - the so-called dreamers whom the scheme was supposed to help - was not something Christians should stand for.
āItās certainly not Christian, and I would contend itās not American,ā he said.
Mr Bannon responded in an interview with broadcaster Charlie Rose, which is due to be aired in full over the weekend by CBS but parts of which have been released in advance. In the interview, Mr Bannon said the Catholic Church has been āterrible aboutā immigration.
āYou know why? Because [they have been] unable to really, to come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens. They need illegal aliens to fill the churches. Itās obvious on the face of it,ā Mr Bannon said.
āI totally respect the Pope, and I totally respect the Catholic bishops and cardinals on doctrine. This is not about doctrine. This is about sovereignty of a nation. And in that regard, theyāre just another guy with an opinion.ā
In the interview, Mr Bannon, who has since returned to the right-wing Breitbart News after leaving the White House, said he would continue to support Mr Trump from outside the West Wing.
He said his role would be to āmake sure his enemies know that thereās no free shot on goalā.
The former chief strategist also defended Mr Trumpās response after the neo-Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville that left one young woman dead.
āWhat he was trying to say is that people that support the monument staying there peacefully and people that oppose that, that's the normal course of - of First Amendment. But heās talking about the Neo-Nazis and Neo-Confederates and the Klan, who, by the way, are absolutely awful - thereās no room in American politics for that,ā he said.
āThereās no room in American society for thatā¦.And all Donald Trump was saying is, āWhere does it end? Does it end in taking down the Washington Monument? Does it end in taking down Mount Rushmoreā.ā
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