Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, said Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey missed out on a Cabinet nomination because of his failure to support the president after the October 7 release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump was recorded boasting about grabbing women in a private conversation with the show's host, Billy Bush.
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Steve Bannon: Chris Christie didn't get a Cabinet position because he didn't show up for 'Billy Bush weekend'
Steve Bannon said Gov. Chris Christie's failure to support then-candidate Donald Trump in the wake of the "Access Hollywood" tape cost him a Cabinet seat.
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"Christie, because of Billy Bush weekend, was not looked at for a Cabinet position," Bannon said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," a preview of which was released Friday.
"He wasn't there for you on Billy Bush weekend, so therefore he doesn't get a Cabinet position?" said Charlie Rose, the "60 Minutes" host.
"I told him: 'The plane leaves at 11 o'clock in the morning. If you're on the plane, you're on the team,'" Bannon said. "Didn't make the plane."
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While Democrats and Republicans alike predicted the tape would deal a fatal blow to Trump's campaign, Bannon insists he predicted Trump's supporters would forgive the remarks, which he characterized as "locker-room talk," and told the president he had a "100% probability of winning."
For Bannon, who managed the last few months of Trump's campaign, the response of Trump supporters to the tape was a test of loyalty.
"Billy Bush Saturday showed me who really had Donald Trump's back to play to his better angels," Bannon told Rose. "All you had to do, and what he did, was go out and continue to talk to the American people … People didn't care. They knew Donald Trump was just doing locker-room talk with a guy. And they dismissed it. It had no lasting impact on the campaign."
Watch the clip here:
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