Bannon: Mitt Romney “Hid Behind [His] Religion” to Stay out of the Vietnam War
At a rally for U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, the Breitbart executive chairman took aim at the former Massachusetts governor, who is not running for Congress in Alabama and cannot vote in the election.
Photo via AP/Rogelio V. Solis
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has drawn the ire of Steve Bannon.
At a campaign event for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of pedophilia, Bannon attacked Romney’s morality, pointing out that the man he once reportedly wanted to bring into President Trump’s cabinet did not serve in the Vietnam War.
“By the way, Mitt, while we’re on the subject of Vietnam and honor and integrity, you avoided service,” Bannon said to a cheering crowd. “You hid behind your religion. You went to France to be a missionary while guys were dying in rice paddies in Vietnam.”
Romney, who is Mormon, does not have military experience and went on a mission to France in the 1960s for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Trump did not serve in Vietnam either, having received a medical deferment for his “temporary” bone spurs. Bannon, who was fired from his role as Trump’s chief strategist, served in the Navy for seven years during the late 1970s and early 1980s. One former colleague described him as “basically an above-average officer,” to the Washington Post.
Romney finds himself in the cross-hairs of Bannon and his acolytes after he condemned Moore and the Republican party on Twitter. Following Trump’s endorsement of the candidate, the Republican National Committee resumed funding Moore’s run on Monday, despite having severed ties with him after the allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.
At the same event, Bannon also said, “Judge Moore has more honor and integrity in a pinkie finger than your family has in its whole DNA.” The RNC is run by Ronna Romney McDaniel, the former governor’s niece.
Roy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 4, 2017
Romney made headlines this week after President Trump reportedly tried to block him from running for Senate in Utah, and down in Alabama, Bannon further assailed him and his family.
“You ran for commander in chief, you had five sons, not one day of service in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Bannon said. “Where were the Romneys during those wars? You want to talk about honor and integrity? Bring it down here to Alabama.”
Alabama voters will head to the polls next Wednesday, when they will have the chance to leverage their “honor and integrity” and decide whether or not they’ll pull the lever for Moore, who was reportedly banned from a local mall because he made young women feel uncomfortable.
