Stephen K. Bannon was sitting in the back of his SUV on a comfortable Friday evening in Powhatan, Virginia, enjoying what were likely his final few weeks of free time.
The day before, Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, was ordered by a federal judge to turn himself in by July 1 to begin serving a four-month prison sentence for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
But there was no question about whether he would go as planned to a rural Virginia rally for Rep. Bob Good, chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. This kind of stuff, these kinds of crowds, is what he thrives on.
“This is the War Room,” Mr. Bannon boasted as rally-goers spread out with lawn chairs and blankets to listen to him speak — referring to the influential podcast he hosts four hours a day every weekday from the basement of his Capitol Hill home.
The show had to find a guest host to keep it going in his absence, but the notorious Mr. Bannon argued that his impending incarceration would only make him stronger, calling it the ultimate act of patriotism by a MAGA fighter the government had been trying to silence in the months leading up to the election.
“There's no downside,” Bannon said. “I served on Navy destroyers in the North Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf in my 20s. I'm in my 70s and serving time in prison. That's not a bad ending.”
Many Americans may not agree with Bannon's definition of patriotism. He was convicted of contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to testify to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
But he's not going to apologize at all.
“What are you talking about?” Mr. Bannon said flatly when asked if he should have cooperated. “I'm proud of what I did. I'm proud of standing up to Nancy Pelosi.”
Bannon's biggest concern now is the future of the movement he has nurtured through his show, where he lectures listeners, whom he calls the “posse,” at length about his obsessions, including the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, what he calls a “criminal invasion” of the southern border, an out-of-control federal budget, the insanity of aid to Ukraine and a “one-party” Republican Congress that has become indistinguishable from Democrats.
“War Room is not a podcast,” Bannon said. “It is and will always be a military command center for information warfare.”
Bannon said he has no interest in enduring life in prison, having spent years training his mind through meditation.
“I'm a very disciplined person in life,” he says, “In prison there are routines and tasks, and I'm not a special person, so I do whatever is asked of me. But in War Room, I'm going to stay focused on the only thing that matters: total victory.”
Mr. Bannon was in this quiet conservative community surrounded by rolling farmland as one of eight Republicans who encouraged the push to oust Kevin McCarthy from his position as House speaker last year. Mr. Goode was counting on Mr. Bannon's support to counter a potentially damning revelation that Mr. Trump had endorsed an opponent in an ugly Republican primary that has divided the MAGA movement.
It was a rare occasion for Mr. Bannon to campaign for Mr. Trump's opponent, and Goode found his presence a big plus, especially since Mr. Bannon suddenly had very limited time available for such activities.
Bannon took the stage in an uncharacteristic outfit of just a black button-down shirt under a jacket, but he received a standing ovation and was welcomed as if he had been a martyr for the cause.
“Steve Bannon is, figuratively speaking, the symbol of patriotism and freedom,” Goode said. “He has literally given his all for his country.”
Bannon told the crowd not to sympathize.
“Prison isn't so bad,” he says, “it's just a different way of serving your country! I'm proud of it.”
Bannon also faces other legal troubles: State prosecutors in Manhattan have accused him of misusing funds he raised for a group that supports Trump's border wall. His fraud trial is scheduled for later this year.
Sitting in his SUV before the rally, Bannon was determined to find a silver lining.
“They made me seem bigger than I am,” he said of the Democratic Party, the courts and the “deep state,” a shadow government force determined to destroy him. “They can't do anything about it. I inspire them on a level that no one else can. President Trump inspires them, but they think he's too big a target. They can't get close to Lenin, so they want Trotsky.”
He noted the timing of the ruling was notable because even the host of the left-leaning MSNBC morning show “Morning Joe” suspended him from the show until after the election.
“The timing is 100% right to take me off,” he said.
During a week packed with commemorative events for the Normandy Invasion, Bannon compared what is happening to him and the conservative movement to what happened to the Allied soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy.
“The message I want to get across to people is: Next man up,” he said. “This is what happened in Normandy on June 6th. The next man up. They're going to sentence Trump to prison on the 11th. The next man has to up.” The upside for the movement, he said, is that his audience will learn what populism really means: standing up and taking on that role, rather than relying on the movement's biggest leaders. “You have to take the training wheels off,” he said.
So what does he have planned for his final weeks of freedom?
“I'll be doing 'War Room' four hours a day,” he said. “I'll be doing more of this to help people. If July 1 comes and there's still no appeal, I'll do as I'm ordered. I understand how the system works.”
“War Room is going to get even better while I'm in prison,” he added.