I’m going to be honest with you, and more importantly, myself. This cartoon is low-hanging fruit. Making fun of Steve Bannon is just too easy. He’s an ugly fascist racist who looks like he’s coming off a three-day bender and has never heard of the shower concept. But, I also feel like I have a responsibility to call out unwashed fascist racists who helped plot and instigate an insurrection and who’s continued to lie ever since claiming Donald Trump won the election he lost.

Outside the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. where his trial is taking place, Steve Bannon challenged January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson to come to the trial, which is pretty rich since the trial is about Steve Bannon refusing to go to Congress and testify. Also, Bennie Thompson hasn’t been called as a witness to Bannon’s trial. It seems a guy claiming the charges against him are a “constitutional crisis” would understand that.

Maybe this is Bannon’s defense. The judge ruled he can’t cite executive privilege as a reason for not complying with a congressional subpoena, so perhaps he’s trying to demonstrate that he doesn’t understand how subpoenas work. Seriously, he’s going to cry that Thompson isn’t at the trial while his side has not issued a subpoena for Thompson to testify. The problem for Steve Bannon in this regard is that he’s not stupid.

Steve Bannon is not stupid. He’s evil. He’s a strategist and a liar. He’s a white nationalist fascist who’s trying to destroy democracy in our nation and install a dictatorship. But he’s not stupid. He knows what he’s trying to do.

Ok. Maybe Bannon is a little stupid for defying the subpoena and risking going to prison for Donald Trump, unless he thinks the exposure from it is worth it. It’s not. Sure, white male conservative racists are always claiming they’re being persecuted when they’re not, and it often works with their base, but it’s not worth prison. I don’t think you can “own the libs” by eating jail food.

The thing is, Bannon could have complied with the subpoena and refused to answer questions. Even fellow Trump pardoned goon Michael Flynn complied with a subpoena and took the fifth to very basic questions like, “Do you believe presidents should be elected or installed through fascist coups?”.

Prosecutors believe they have a slamdunk and have already rested their case after only calling two witnesses. The defense will make its case today and then both sides will deliver closing arguments. This isn’t the OJ trial.

Bannon is not on trial here for his part in the insurrection. There may be charges related to that later, and I hope he is charged along with goons like Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump. Bannon is only on trial here for defying a congressional subpoena. Bannon is probably going to jail and Trump can’t pardon him this time.

So, yeah. This cartoon is low-hanging fruit but I think it’s OK since Bannon has made himself the low-hanging fruit. He’s made himself an easy target.

I also think this cartoon is justified as it’s already been flagged by Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, for being “sensitive.” It’s currently under review and I can’t wait to see how that works out.

I think I’m justified in drawing this cartoon when Donald Trump says I have total freedom of speech on his platform unless I insult unwashed fascist racist coup generators.

Clay Jones, a self-syndicated political cartoonist and the winner of the 2022 RFK Human Rights Journalism Award and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Editorial Cartoons.

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