32 MICHAEL WOLFF SIEGE 3: gain a majority greater than the one the Republicans held now. Except, then for the general with his ‘liquidity’ issues?” asked Bannon with hi: unlike the Republicans, theirs would be a unified party—or at least one hands out and his eyebrows up. “Let’s not dwell.” that was unified against Donald Trump. But for Bannon there were two sides in American politics—not s« Ryan and Stivers were hardly the only ones seeing such a result. Mitch much right and left, but right brain and left brain. The left brain wa McConnell was telling donors not to even bother contributing to House : represented by the legal system, which was empirical, evidentiary, ati races. The money should go to the Senate campaign, where prospects for methodical; given the chance, it would inevitably and correctly convic holding the Republican majority were significantly brighter. Donald Trump. The right side was represented by politics, and therefor This was, for Donald Trump, in Bannon’s view, the most desperate by voters who were emotional, volatile, febrile, and always eager to throv moment in his political career, arguably even worse than the revelation ; the dice. “Get the deplorables fired up’—he slapped his hands in thunder of the Access Hollywood grab-them-by-the-pussy tape. He was already on clap effect—“and we'll save our man.” the ropes legally, with Mueller and the Southern District bearing down; Almost a year and a half on, all of the issues of 2016 remained a now, looking at a likely wipeout in the midterm elections, he was in seri- | powerful and raw as ever: immigration, white man’s resentment and th ous political jeopardy as well. liberal’contempt for the working—or out-of-work—white man. The yea But Bannon’s usual ebullience quickly returned. As he talked his 2018 was, for Bannon, the real 2016: the deplorable base had become th way out of his funk, he became nearly joyful. If the establishment— deplorable nation. “It’s civil war) Bannon said, a happy judgme