Steve Bannon says media 'always wrong' about Trump, president 'maniacally focused' on agenda

ByABC News
February 23, 2017, 4:25 PM

— -- Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, pounced on the media during the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, repeating his attack that the press is the "opposition party" that is "always wrong" about the administration.

"I think if you look at, you know, the opposition party," said Bannon, referring to the media, during his appearance at the conference with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. "How they portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition and how they're portraying the administration -- it's always wrong."

Bannon, who once was the head of the conservative outlet Breitbart News, took issue with descriptions of the White House as "chaotic," "disorganized" and "unprofessional," saying that the same terms were used against the ultimately-victorious campaign. Now, with Trump as president, both Bannon and Priebus made the argument that he is following through on his promises, despite distractions.

"All President Trump does every day is hit his agenda every single day, whether it's TPP, deregulation, Neil Gorsuch, his promise is coming through every day,” Priebus said.

"[Everything] he's doing is laid out an agenda with the speeches on the promises he made and our job is get the paths of what he's executed, and he is maniacally focused on that,” Bannon added.

The setting of the conversation -- CPAC -- was a foreign one for Bannon. In past years, Breitbart sponsored discussions that ran counter to the event, called "The Uninvited." The chief strategist poked fun at his attendance at the main event Thursday.

"I want to thank you for finally inviting me to CPAC,” said Bannon, who portrayed his appearance at the convention, and his working relationship with Priebus, as the marriage of conservatism and the Republican party establishment.

Priebus, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, joined in on the media criticism when it came to his relationship with Bannon, which a number of outlets, including Breitbart, have classified as rocky.

"In regard to us two, I think the biggest misconception is everything that you're reading," said Priebus. "We share an office suite together, we're basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11:00 at night."

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