October 25, 2025

Steve Bannon has a talent for saying the quiet part out loud. In an interview this week, the “Trump whisperer”  revealed the next phase of the MAGA movement: Trump 2028.

Back when Trump was just a reality TV host haunting New York City, Bannon helped launch Breitbart News, spreading alt-right propaganda before there even was a MAGA movement. In 2016, Bannon helped catapult the president into power and implement his agenda as chief strategist. 

Bannon is a known propagandist, conspiracy theorist, and has played dangerous games (and won) in international politics. He’s also a vocal election denier, while being a vocal admirer of my work. 

He has described me as “the gold standard” and frequently complained to his audience that Republicans needed to either recruit me or find someone to match me. “One thing about Marc Elias, he’s pure evil, but, man, that brother is smart, tough. He’s crazy, but he’s a fighter, and I admire fighters.” 

In 2018, Donald Trump called me the Democratic Party’s “best election stealing lawyer.” In the run-up to the 2024 election, Bannon insisted that “you only hire Marc Elias when you want to go to the mattresses… He’s literally laid out a blueprint of how they’re going to steal the election.”

While I have grown accustomed to their obsession, they fundamentally misunderstand what I do. Yes, I fight hard and I am glad to be called the gold standard for my legal advocacy. However, I fight and win my battles to ensure every eligible citizen can vote, lawful ballots are counted and accurate election results certified.

For many, Bannon may not seem like the most important person in Trump’s current orbit. But don’t be mistaken. When it comes to MAGA, Steve Bannon is pulling strings, and he knows the long game. 

On Jan. 5, 2021, he told his listeners “all hell will break loose tomorrow.” It did. Over the summer, Bannon told us that Trump’s Department of Justice would begin investigating his political opponents. That’s exactly what happened. Then, just last week, Bannon dropped another bomb. He told Zanny Minton Beddoes of the Economist that Trump will have a third term. “People just ought to get accommodated with that,” he said. 

When Zanny pressed him about the 22nd Amendment, he was unfazed. “There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we will lay out what the plan is, but there is a plan.” He explained that Trump is “an instrument of divine will” and to finish what they started, they need him “for at least one more term.” 

Whether you consider it saying the quiet part out loud or desensitizing the legacy media, Bannon is saying exactly what Trump believes. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, it is our reality.

For my part, I don’t simply assume Trump will try to run in 2028; I expect Trump to try to run in 2028. As Bannon said, there is a plan. And I believe that they’re enacting it now. 

It all starts with the 2026 midterm elections. 

The biggest threat to Trump’s crown is losing the House and Senate majority. That is why Republicans are gerrymandering districts, appointing election deniers into key positions and demanding voter rolls. This is the first phase — and it’s key to Trump running and winning in 2028. 

As Zanny continued to push Bannon on the constitutionality of a third term, he told us a very critical detail of his plan: “The only way Trump wins in 2028 and continues to stay in office is by the will of the American people.” 

Dictators love elections. They simply object to free and fair elections. Rigged elections that crown them a victor legitimize their power and make it harder to oust them and complain. They lull the legacy media into submission. They pave the way for corporate capitulation.

If Trump and his team successfully silence the voice of the American people in 2026, they will use that victory to justify Trump running in 2028. “This is what the American people want,” they will tell us. Then, they will embrace whatever unconstitutional tactics they need for Trump to run for a third term. 

We won’t fall into a dictatorship through a spontaneous, violent coup, but through a carefully executed election that resembles a democracy. 

But don’t be fooled — it won’t be a democracy. 

The 2026 midterms are upon us, and it may be one of the last chances we have to thwart Trump and Bannon’s plan. Bannon insists he needs Trump in office to finish what they started. I say we end it now. 

If they have a plan, we need to have ten plans. We need to be fighting back in court, volunteering on Democratic campaigns and if you’re in California, turning out to vote for amendments like Prop. 50.

The will of the people will not be silenced. We did not crown a king and will not allow Steve Bannon and his cronies to force one upon us. We have a republic, and we intend to keep it.

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