Steve Bannon Calls for a Presidential Commission on the Iran War 'Defeat'

Steve Bannon called the Iran war a military defeat on Thursday and called for a presidential commission on how the decision to go to war was made. Until it reports, he said, the U.S. should carry out no more military strikes.

The War Room host made the remarks two days after Tuesday's midterms. Guest John Solomon, a conservative commentator, said earlier in the show that it was "wrong to read what happened yesterday as a rejection of Trump policies" and called the result "a protest vote."

"But at some point the bucks got to stop about this war. We just had a catastrophic defeat militarily that goes back to the war, decisions around the war, who made the decisions, where the information came from, what did the Israelis have to say?" Bannon said. "And this is why I'm calling for a president's commission now."

"Catastrophic defeat" is Bannon's own description. The war has gone on far longer than Trump first promised. Solomon said voters never heard the president's own account of why the U.S. went to war.

What Bannon Wants a Commission to Examine

Bannon said the inquiry should "start with a fact finding from American institutions and American players." If the Israelis do not demand a formal investigation of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, "that's their deal," he said, but the U.S. must get its own facts. He said Americans "gotta get the facts of the run-up to the 12-day war."

"We shouldn't have any more kinetic activity until this is done," Bannon said.

Bannon Compares Pete Hegseth to George McClellan

The sharpest exchange came with Mark Lucas, a former military planner from Iowa who spoke on behalf of Veteran Action. Lucas defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against a possible impeachment and credited him with removing DEI programs and raising recruitment.

Bannon cut in. "We lost a kinetic war. We have not won, we went into a regime change war," he said. "And here we are a long way from victory. Who's accountable for that?"

Lucas answered with the election. "I live in the state of Iowa," he said. "We had historic losses that were driven by the war in Iran." He meant Republican losses in Iowa's midterm races, not losses on the battlefield. Later in the segment he said Iowa "was just swept up in this blue tsunami" because Republicans "focused less on America first, more on Iran."

Bannon did not call for Hegseth to be fired. He said Hegseth had "done a great job with the pushups and the warrior thing and getting recruitment up," and later called him "a tough guy and a smart guy."

He then compared Hegseth to George B. McClellan, the Union general who built the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln later removed McClellan from command. Bannon said McClellan "was relieved for cause because he couldn't deliver victories in the field," and then asked: "Is that Pete Hegseth in the exact same situation?"

Lucas did not answer the question directly. He said he wanted "a hard and fast pivot to the Pacific theater," away from the Middle East, because China was the bigger long-term threat. Bannon replied that the U.S. could not pivot until the Middle East was settled: "that's why I think we need clarity on the Persian war." Lucas agreed that "we do need to close out what's going on in Iran," adding that "we as Americans are paying the price like here in Iowa for gas and for inflation."

What Voters Said About the War and Gas Prices

Lucas's point about gas prices matches the record. Before the war, the national average for regular gasoline was $2.94 a gallon in the week of February 23, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. It passed $4 by early April and reached $4.50 in mid-May. In election week, it was still $4.15.

Most voters told CBS News exit pollsters that taking military action against Iran was the wrong decision. Voters who said the economy was in bad shape backed Democrats for the House. An AP-NORC poll taken July 23-27 found that 64 percent of Americans said the war had not been worth it.

What Happens Next

Lucas predicted that a Hegseth impeachment resolution will come up in the lame-duck session. He accused Democrats of using two Republicans, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie and North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, "to really drive this impeachment." He said his group, Veteran Action, would track every congressional Republican's vote on the resolution: "veteran action is gonna hold you accountable."

Massie has said he will reintroduce eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth when Congress returns, "regardless of the outcome of the midterm election."