Queens Village GOP still plans Steve Bannon meet-up, despite arrest
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Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon walks out of Manhattan federal court Thursday. AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
By David Brand
The Queens Village Republican Club has forged a close relationship with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon over the past year, and no arrest for allegedly defrauding conservative donors can sever that bond.
Bannon, a special guest at the QVGOP’s virtual 145th Anniversary dinner in March, is scheduled to visit the club’s Bellerose headquarters on Sept. 3 to discuss COVID and conservatism.
The organization’s president, Phil Orenstein, said the club is eager to welcome Bannon, despite his arrest for allegedly funneling $1 million from a border wall fundraiser to pay his own bills.
“We scheduled it before his arrest and we haven’t heard anything cancelling his appearance so we’re keeping it on the agenda until we hear otherwise,” Orenstein said.
The September meeting is set to be the club’s first gathering in more than six months. But it’s not the first time they’ll host the former Breitbart chairman.
In March, Orenstein and the club board called off its $125-per-plate annual in-person gala which was supposed to feature Bannon as keynote speaker. Instead, the QVGOP held a Zoom dinner, with the former Breitbart editor checking in to address Queens conservatives remotely.
Orenstein said he hopes Bannon will attend next year’s gala at Antun’s.
“We’ll see. Since we weren’t allowed to have a regular dinner, he did promise to make an in-person appearance,” Orenstein said.
After the Eagle first reported on Bannon’s scheduled dinner appearance, the organization Media Matters for America urged the QVGOP to cancel the event as the coronavirus began to surge in New York City.
MMFA pointed out that Bannon had told xenophobic lies about COVID-19 and noted that another scheduled guest, the British blogger Katie Hopkins, had encouraged her Twitter followers to spread coronavirus in order to “build their immunity.” Hopkins also wrote that COVID-19 would ensure the “borders are beautiful again” by halting international travel.
Those denunciations did not deter the QVGOP from inviting both speakers to the Zoom dinner.
As for Bannon’s recent arrest, Orenstein said he’s giving the conservative strategist the benefit of the doubt
“I’m waiting to see how this all plays out,” he said. “We know Steve Bannon pled not guilty.”
Bannon was busted by agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and postal service on a yacht in Long Island Sound. He was charged with pocketing $1 million from an online fundraiser known as We Build a Wall.
We Build a Wall raised roughly $25 million by asking Americans to chip in to construct a barrier along the country’s Southern border — a wall that President Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for.
The man who started the fundraiser, Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, pledged not to “take a penny” from the initiative. He took $350,000, federal prosecutors say.
Bannon, who Kolfage involved early on, took even more, using a nonprofit to funnel the cash from conservative donors, according to the charges.
Bannon was arrested on a yacht around 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Orenstein said something smells fishy.
“The timing is odd,” Orenstein said. “On the last day of the Democratic Convention when Biden was going to accept the nomination? Why bring the focus on Steve Bannon at this time?”
“Why is Steve Bannon being attacked?” he continued. “What about Black Lives Matter and the millions and millions of dollars of donations they’re getting? Has anyone been arrested?
“No one is asking them any questions. It always seems Republicans are on the hot seat.”
