Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Steve Bannon Says Trump Pushing Prison Reform Would Be GOP’s ‘Greatest Opportunity’ For Voter ‘Realignment’

Screenshot/YouTube/One America News Network

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon said Thursday that President Donald Trump advancing prison reform could dramatically realign the parties’ relationships with working-class black and Hispanic voters.

Trump signed the bipartisan First Step Act in 2018, which sought to shorten sentences for nonviolent drug offenders by way of increased “earned time credits” for inmates. Bannon, on former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’ podcast “The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz,” praised the legislation, but argued it has not been sufficiently “implemented” — saying Trump should make prison reform a top priority in his second term.

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“We got to work on some prison reform here. There’s a lot to do … I know President Trump is very serious about this. So I think it ought to be a major thing,” Bannon told Gaetz. “And politically, it’s so smart. These people feel the Democratic Party has abandoned them — which it has. It’s abandoned the working class, African Americans and Hispanics. That’s our greatest opportunity here for this realignment.”

CNN’s Van Jones, who collaborated with the White House during Trump’s first term to pass the First Step Act, praised Trump in March for appointing Alice Marie Johnson as his “pardon czar,” calling it a “huge” development. Trump had granted Johnson a full pardon during his first term after she spent 22 years in prison for a non-violent drug offense.

“[She’s] somebody who’s actually been incarcerated, been in the federal system, understands how the Department of Justice screws over people who should be coming home — some people who shouldn’t come home, but a lot of people that should come home and they get screwed by the pardon office,” Jones said. “She’s going to fix that. As somebody who’s worked on criminal justice … for 30 years, having someone who’s a formerly incarcerated person in charge of going through all these pardons and making sure that people get a fair shot — I think that’s a very good thing.”

Jones also credited Trump in 2019 for his perseverance in passing the First Step Act, saying Trump enabled additional Republicans to come out in support of criminal justice reform.

Moreover, radio host Charlamagne Tha God told The New York Times in May 2024 that Trump’s signing of the act could improve his black voter support in the November election.

“There’s people who actually saw family members and people they love actually get out of prison,” Charlamagne told the NYT.

Trump ultimately made significant inroads with both Hispanic and black men during the November election.