Dear Mr. Bannon,
February 24, 2017, in a post on financial deregulation in the United States, I called you with some sort of familiarity – hope you will forgive me – “the guy we always see behind President Trump on the photos “. You were still little known in Europe at the time. I had found that it described you well while avoiding evoking the impression of sufficiency and self-satisfaction that you released, which would have been discourteous.
Do not misunderstand me : for me, a man who has served seven years in the US Navy cannot be fundamentally bad. And I write to you with the respect I owe you for this period of your life.
I was told that you had encountered difficulties on the other side of the Atlantic ? Unwanted among Republicans, fired from the White House (which is rather well seen here) and Breitbart News (people can be so ungrateful !) … Even your sponsor, Mrs. Rebekah Mercer would have let you go : possibly a disagreement on the degree of hate to be dedicated to Muslims, the rights of women and minorities, or to the elites … Perhaps you should talk to someone about it : often, the detestation of others and of the difference is simply a self-loathing you know !
I heard that Andrew Breitbart compared you to Leni Riefenstahl. As you do not exactly have a dancer’s physique, I suppose he was referring to the artist’s connection to the Third Reich propaganda ?
Welcome to Brussels anyway ! You will love the place, where you should easily be in the light, which is what you prefer I believe. If you get lost in the mysteries of the European Commission, do not hesitate to call Mr. Barroso, at Goldman Sachs : he knows the House well and will be happy to introduce you. And generally, we like to listen to Americans here. They speak good English and therefore certainly say relevant things !
And good luck to the Think Tank, “The Movement” that you launch there. I understood that your first objective is to bring 30% of right-wing representatives to the European Parliament in the next European elections ? You will forgive me the use of this too simple term of “far-right”, but I do not understand anything about your “gibberish”, alter-right, “Tea-Party”, libertarians …
To tell you the truth, I have not understood where this sudden interest in the fate of our European peoples comes from. Probably a kind of vocation?
Or the effect of these multiple love at first sight: your meeting with the “Alternative für Deutschland” would have been “fascinating”, Marion Maréchal would be “electrifying” and his aunt Marine Le Pen “formidable”, Matteo Salvini “a model to follow”, Viktor Orban a“hero”. Do not dream too much anyway : European fascism is really an old thing that did not wait for you to structure and annoy its hatreds. In the United States, you are really beginners.
It looks like you are going to launch your own cryptocurrency. I always thought that this thing was above all political (see my post on the subject). Not necessarily something for big cats, but quite suitable for small scavengers.
Actually, your real friend is Nigel Farage. Like him, you have a very clear vision of the objective : to put Europe in a political chaos comparable to that reached in the United Kingdom, so that you can develop your business there, much like these “vulture funds” that feed on the misery of others. For it is naïve to believe that the “Brexiters” who took their people to the wall are all horns. Some of them know perfectly well what are the interests that guide them : they are theirs.
Come on, no hard feelings !
Iconography: Steeve Bannon welcomed by Marine Le Pen at the National Front Congress on March 10, 2018 in Lille © AFP / Getty
After working as an international banker for emerging countries, Laurent Lascols became global head of country risk / sovereign risk (from 2008 to 2013) then global director of public affairs (from 2014 to 2019) for Societe Generale. In 2021, he founded Aristote, an advisory firm and training organization dedicated to environmental economics, sustainable finance and impact finance.