Steve Bannon Refuses to Pledge to ‘Accept’ Midterm Results in Fiery Clash With Chris Cuomo

Steve Bannon and NewsNation host Chris Cuomo clashed during a town hall this week where Cuomo pressed Bannon on whether he would “accept” the midterm election results if Republicans face big losses.

At the town hall, Cuomo pressed Bannon multiple times on accepting election results and the conversation eventually spilled over into a fiery debate on ICE deportations and whether federal agents should be monitoring polling places to guarantee only American citizens are voting.

“I heard you say something the other day, and it made you very popular with people who don’t believe that MAGA will accept losing the election. And I want to ask you straight, here on the record, if you lose in the state of Texas, the state of North Carolina, wherever you lose certifies that you lose, will you accept the results of the election?” Cuomo asked Bannon.

“We have to, first off, let’s have the election first,” Bannon said.

“No, no, no. You don’t have to have it first,” Cuomo shot back.

The two exchanged verbal blows and talked over one another as Bannon accused Cuomo of playing word “games.”

“They certified an illegitimate election in 2020,” Bannon eventually said, echoing President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims about the 2020 election being widely rigged against him.

Bannon was hit with boos from the audience after his 2020 declaration.

“Says who?” Cuomo asked Bannon.

“I went to prison for that. I’m proud I went to prison for that,” Bannon said.

Bannon served a four month sentence in 2024 after refusing to testify before Congress during an investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot.

Bannon claimed, however, that he went to prison for refusing to “bend the knee” to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“You wouldn’t bend the knee to democracy,” Cuomo said, noting that Bannon seemed to be answering his original question by refusing to flat-out say he’ll accept election results.

“Chris, you can play all the word games you want,” Bannon said.

Cuomo pushed him once more on whether he’ll “accept” results, and Bannon argued that Republicans’ only focus right now is “winning” elections. He then endorsed ICE agents being deployed to polling stations.

“If you guys grabbed the right people at ICE the right way on a regular basis You wouldn’t have the American people afraid if you’d be in there in the first place,” Cuomo said.

Watch above via NewsNation.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!