Steve Bannon talks ‘Billy Bush Weekend’, comedians respond
By Jeremy Dick
Steve Bannon opened up on 60 Minutes about staying loyal to Donald Trump after “Billy Bush Weekend”, earning him some mockery on late night TV.
After getting booted from his position in the White House, Steve Bannon is making it clear his loyalty still lies with the president. He said as much in a recent interview with 60 Minutes, opening up about his time working with Donald Trump. His reasoning is basically that he chose early on to stick with Trump through the good and the bad. And if he passed the ultimate test of loyalty by siding with Trump through one particular controversy, then he’d stand by him through anything.
The incident in question is the leak of audio recorded in an Access Hollywood bus. Speaking with Billy Bush, Trump crudely describes his attempts to seduce women. Trump would dismiss the audio as “locker room talk”, but it no doubt damaged his image and campaign. To get through it, the wannabe-president needed all the allies he could get. Ultimately, Bannon stuck with Trump, and that’s when he knew for sure he was all in with the Donald.
In the 60 Minutes interview, however, Bannon repeatedly refers to the incident as “Billy Bush Weekend”. He’s coined his own term for what he describes as a “litmus test” for his loyalty to the future president. But perhaps giving the scandal such a cute nickname wasn’t the best idea.
Last night, Trevor Noah covered the Bannon interview on The Daily Show, and he got a kick out of “Billy Bush Weekend”. He imagines Billy Bush himself being embarrassed to be named over the incident, probably saying, “Come on, man! I was just on the bus!” Noah describes how unfair it is to name the incident after Billy, which is akin to calling the JFK assassination “motorcade driver’s bad day.”
Over on NBC, Seth Meyers also found the whole “Billy Bush Weekend” thing hilarious. “Why do they keep saying Billy Bush Weekend? It’s not a holiday!” Meyers laments. He imagines different families celebrating Billy Bush Saturday, with others celebrating Billy Bush Sunday.
One can’t help but wonder if there’s anything Trump could have done that would actually make Bannon finally turn on him. But for people like Steve Bannon, it would be far more painful to have to admit to being wrong.