It has come to our attention at Kyiv Post that an opinion piece we published on April 18, “The Enemy Within the US Is Letting Russia Get Away With Murder” by Askold Lozynskyj, has incited the anger of Steve Bannon, who cast aspersions on us in an April 20 edition of his televised podcast War Room.
Rather than address his hostility toward us, suffice it to say that we give voice to a variety of opinions and go to great lengths to label them as opinion rather than news. Recently, we have voiced opinions criticizing the Biden administration and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself. At the end of every opinion essay, we explicitly acknowledge that “the views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.”
Bannon, like all other individuals in a free society, has the right to his own opinion, and we honor the principle that allows him to publicly criticize us. He can do this because he lives in the United States, a society where despite the fact that he was arrested for fraud in August 2020 and subsequently pardoned before the trial by outgoing President Donald Trump on Jan. 19, 2021, only days before leaving office, he can still have a significant voice in the political debate of his country.
Bannon had been a strategist in the Trump administration, until he was let go by the President himself. Yet he continued to support Trump and his MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. His experience as strategist and current position as media “influencer” make him a lynchpin for Trump’s re-election efforts. As such, he and other supporters of Trump are the legitimate targets of dissenting opinion.
Lozynskyj also has a right to point out people he feels are “useful Putin idiots.” Bannon is not alone in Lozynskyj’s categorization. The former Trump strategist is joined by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others who have at some point appeared to advocate for leaving Ukrainians to their own devices in their struggle against Russian aggression.
That being said, we at Kyiv Post feel obliged to address two of Bannon’s criticisms in particular.
The controversial US political technician dismisses Kyiv Post as the voice of “Zelensky and the group of criminals around him.” His fellow-commentator on the show, an ultra-right British Catholic, Benjamin Harwell, who a few years ago got into trouble with the Italian and Church authorities for promoting Bannon’s ultra-conservative political philosophy, did not hesitate to parrot Moscow’s description of the Ukrainian government as “the regime in Kyiv.”
In fact, we represent the free press of a democratic Ukraine fighting against a fascist-like, despotic, and imperialist Russia and its foreign lackeys, wherever they are situated, including in the US, and have no hesitation in revealing and criticizing shortcomings and issues of concern within Ukraine itself.
Bannon also appears to suggest that having US-citizens contributing to our publication is somehow untoward.
Let us for the record be clear: we publish US citizens, Ukrainian citizens, and even Russian citizens. We call ourselves “Ukraine’s global voice,” so it goes without saying that anyone on planet Earth is welcome to express their opinion on our platform.
As for our employees, our flagship publication is in the English language. Therefore, we employ many writers and editors whose mother tongue is English. Some are US citizens, some are UK citizens, such as our Chief Editor, others come from far-flung lands in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere. Yet the majority are Ukrainian citizens.
Moreover, our offices are in Kyiv, a city that has come under regular Russian bombardment since February 2022. Our employees – some of whom have served in such illustrious institutions as the US Armed Forces, the British Armed Forces, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine – come to work day-in and day-out under the threat of missile attack. They have seen casualties on the street in front of their offices and they work next door to a rehabilitation center where they see injured and maimed soldiers on a daily basis.
So, on a human level, it should be perfectly clear to our readers as well as to the viewers of War Room that anyone who would deny Kyiv aid to fend off these missile attacks will be judged harshly.
The fact that Bannon has repeatedly called for halting aid to Ukraine is on public record.
We at Kyiv Post – at the very least – support the survival of Ukraine as an independent, sovereign and democratic nation, able to resist the imperial and/or revanchist ambitions of any belligerent neighbor. We opine that it is clear Bannon and his associates do not. So, they will continue to remain in our sights.
We take pride in the fact that our coverage and messages are clearly hitting home and having an impact.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
Comments (5)
Steve Bannon is an irrelevant fool, just like Trump.
I was going to post about what a well documented, traitorous, criminal miscreant Steve Bannon is, but others below have done a much better job than I could.
So instead I will just say THANK YOU Kyivpost for the noble and courageous work your staff do to keep global English speakers aware of putin's fouls deeds and Ukraine's defensive needs. There is currently no better source for English coverage of putins illegal war that I can have found.
Your publication is obviously growing and now attracting many new well qualified contributors. This would don't be possible if Kyivpost was not attracting hugely significant numbers of supportive readers from Ukraine's allied countries. That success now makes Kyivpost a target of those that do putin's foul bidding. However do not let up on the fine work you are doing. It is so important in garnering Ukraine the support it needs!
An informed public demands ethical and accountable leadership. These in turn direct supporting Ukraine at each's national level. Together we all commit towards a Ukrainian victory over russia's vile regime.
@John, I agree with what you say. The English expression "take it with a pinch of salt" especially applies to Steve Bannon's views.
These college educated Putin sympathizers have partaken of the Kremlin Koolaid with 200g of vodka. Marjorie Taylor Greene said the quiet part outloud recently, like "why are we financing those Nazis in Ukraine?".
Putin has played this perfectly.
Ben Harnwell works with Bannon on his "Gladiator School". Bannon's ego is out of control..he imagines himself as a Knights Templar or historical warrior.
Here's some news for Bannon and his crowd. There are more Nazis in America listening to him than there are honest Christians. Mike Johnson has been hammered by Steve the Gladiator, but Johnson seems to be a real Christian and also stuck to the Budapest agreement. He IS an attorney after all.
I think Bannon dragged Harnwell out of a pub somewhere.. Thanks for this article.
As a former Bannon listener, he completely lost me with his distain for Ukraine.
Publications like the Kyiv Post often give short shrift to notable people who come across their radar, like Steve Bannon. Allow me to flesh out some of the details about this man (other than what the article identifies as a man convicted of fraud and pardoned by Trump).
* Even though he has been pardoned, it doesn't change the fact that Bannon is a convicted felon. Accepting a pardon is by American law an admission of guilt.
* A quote by Bannon delivered directly to the 'Daily Beast' website on 22 August 2016: “I'm a Leninist,” Bannon proudly proclaimed. Shocked, I asked him what he meant. “Lenin,” he answered, “wanted to destroy the state, and that's my goal too."
* In Washington D.C. on the 5th and 6th of January, 2021, there was a 'war room' set up in the Willard Hotel. Inside were the people coordinating and directing the violent attack against the US Capitol during the Insurrection. They included Steve Bannon, with indicted conspirators Rudy Guiliani, Boris Epshteyn, and John Eastman. (Source: Rolling Stone Magazine 'Special Counsel Probes Team Trump’s Jan. 6 ‘War Room’ 20 July 2023)
* It is common knowledge that Bannon is a raging alcoholic. Since many of the Kyiv Post's readers are from Eastern Europe, they will easily recognize the ruddy facial features and spiderweb of blood veins around the nose of Bannon as the mark of a lifelong alcoholic.
With those facts in place, the Kyiv Post should consider criticism from that creature to be a badge of honor.
@Coach John, Steve Bannon the alcoholic is innocent and has no blood in his hands unlike the hooked nose Jew Zelensky and the global Jewish lobby.
Steve Bannon's personal hygiene tells you all you need to know about the guy. He's a greasy slimeball, who rightfully belongs in prison. Were I the editor of KP, I wouldn't waste the bandwidth to respond to the guy. Most in the United States consider him a fringe whack-job with no real understanding of the world around him. Contrast that with John Bolton, another former Trump lackey who really does understand the world, and you'll get a better idea of the range of opinion coming from former Donald Trump lapdogs. I think even Trump himself has realized he misjudged the situation in Ukraine, and that realization is reflected in his support of house speaker Mike Johnson ahead of this past weekend's historic vote in congress to support Ukraine in its fight with Russia.