Bannon Came to Defend Moore. He Ended Up Bashing Romney

Steve Bannon isn't in the White House anymore, but he's still popping up on the political landscape. On Tuesday, he made a showing in Alabama to rally for Roy Moore, the GOP Senate candidate who's been hit with multiple sexual misconduct allegations. But as HuffPost reports, Bannon turned his sights on another high-profile Republican politician during his speech: former presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney had tweeted Monday, calling Moore "a stain on the GOP and on the nation," adding: "No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity." Bannon apparently took umbrage with this post, and so took his opportunity in Fairhope to go after Romney's lack of military service.

After pointing out Moore was a West Point graduate and Vietnam vet, Bannon addressed his words to Romney: "You avoided service, brother. You hid behind your religion. You went to France to be a missionary while guys were dying in rice paddies in Vietnam." (Romney received a deferment to do his missionary work; HuffPost also notes the deferment of President Trump, whom Bannon stumps for.) Bannon also attacked Romney's sons for not serving, then said Moore "has more honor and integrity in a pinkie finger" than Romney's family has "in its whole DNA." New York thinks Bannon's move was an ill-fated one, as it could foil his plan to keep Romney from winning a possible Senate run in Utah in 2018. The majority-Mormon state isn't filled with Trump supporters, and residents likely won't take kindly to a perceived diss of Romney's Mormonism. (More Steve Bannon stories.)