OXON HILL, Maryland — Steve Bannon called for former House Speaker Paul Ryan's ouster at Fox News during a fiery screed against the conservative outlet.
Painting a bleak picture of the state of affairs, Bannon suggested that Fox News, under Ryan's leadership, has worked to frustrate former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election and was, therefore, responsible for many of the troubles afflicting the country under President Joe Biden.
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"The first thing you need to do is get rid of Paul Ryan as an independent director. And Paul Ryan was saying if Trump wins, he's not going to go — then you got to get rid of him. The Murdochs immediately have to start covering President Trump," Bannon, Trump's former chief White House strategist, proclaimed at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "Just cover the man."
Ryan sits on the Fox Corporation Board of Directors and indicated he would not attend the Republican National Convention in 2024 if Trump wins. He also claimed that Trump hasn't been on the network since he announced his 2024 campaign last year.
"What Trump is up against — he's not up against DeSantis and Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo. He's up against Ken Griffin and Mitch McConnell and Murdoch," he said. "The only people can stop them on the face of the earth are you, you, and you. MAGA, MAGA, MAGA."
Before his address, Bannon dropped hints that he planned to hammer Fox News over the recent torrent of revelations from the $1.6 billion lawsuit lodged against the network by Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly promulgating falsehoods that election fraud deprived Trump of victory in 2020.
Internal communications showcased a network grappling with the knowledge that Trump lacked evidence to claim the election was "stolen" amid pressures from viewers and Trumpworld to capitulate. Democrats seethed over the revelations, but so have Trump and Bannon, harping on the company co-founder Rupert Murdoch's private disparagement of the election fraud narrative.
Bannon also blasted the Murdoch family as "a bunch of foreigners." Much of his speech focused on a dire warning that the world was careening toward a third world war as domestic plights and foreign troubles converge.
"The storm is here. This is the most dangerous time in world history since the late 1930s, early 1940s. And how did we get here? Our betters, our elites led us here step by step," Bannon declared.
His speech fired up the moderately packed CPAC audience, drawing thunderous applause at times.
"If you don't stand up and fight it, it's going to happen. You can't put all this just on Donald J. Trump. This has to be the American people. You underwrite the entire system," Bannon proclaimed.
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While conceding that 2024 alternatives such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) were "fine," he stressed that "we don't have time for on-the-job training" and heartily backed Trump to take on the looming challenges.
Once an under-the-radar political operative and media guru, Bannon has emerged as a regular staple at CPAC over recent years. This year, he sat at the real America's Voice booth fixated just outside the Potomac Ballroom, where feted guests and panelists took the stage and addressed the CPAC congregation.
Bannon, Trump's 2016 campaign CEO, was convicted last year of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying requests for documents and testimony from the House Jan. 6 committee.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Fox News for comment.