--- title: Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer description: Steve Bannon has lost the support of his most prominent backer, conservative billionaire Rebekah Mercer as he feuds with Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-04T23:46:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:26:51.601Z article:section: Politics og:title: Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer og:description: The conservative donor said she stands by President Trump og:url: https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt195ba2acc07880f3/6988f72ce76ad2579c630850/steve-bannon-trump-feud-rebekah-mercer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore Holds Election Eve Rally og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer twitter:description: The conservative donor said she stands by President Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt195ba2acc07880f3/6988f72ce76ad2579c630850/steve-bannon-trump-feud-rebekah-mercer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 4, 2018 11:46 PM UTC  Steve Bannon, chairman of Breitbart News, speaks during a campaign rally for Roy Moore, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama, in Midland City, Alabama, on Dec. 11, 2017. Steve Bannon, chairman of Breitbart News, speaks during a campaign rally for Roy Moore, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama, in Midland City, Alabama, on Dec. 11, 2017. Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 4, 2018 11:46 PM UTC Steve Bannon has lost the support of his most prominent backer, conservative billionaire [Rebekah Mercer](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742759/rebekah-mercer/). Mercer, who typically stays out of the public eye, [told the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/01/04/mercer-issues-rare-public-rebuke-of-former-ally-bannon/?utm%5Fterm=.144a94d0cc84) on Thursday that she has not spoken to Bannon in months and that she stands behind President Donald Trump as he feuds with his former adviser. “I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected,” Mercer said in the rare statement. “My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements.” Bannon, who served as Trump’s campaign chairman and then White House chief strategist [until August](http://time.com/4906897/steve-bannon-leaving-white-house-donald-trump/), has frustrated many Republicans since leaving the White House. He particularly annoyed Mercer when he told other conservative donors he could count on her support if he ran for president, the [_Post_ ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-slams-bannon-when-he-was-fired-he-not-only-lost-his-job-he-lost-his-mind/2018/01/03/21fb158a-f0aa-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fhp-top-table-main%5Fbannon-150pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm%5Fterm=.435be343d983)[reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-slams-bannon-when-he-was-fired-he-not-only-lost-his-job-he-lost-his-mind/2018/01/03/21fb158a-f0aa-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fhp-top-table-main%5Fbannon-150pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm%5Fterm=.435be343d983) Wednesday. Mercer’s criticism also comes amid a raging controversy over a [new book by journalist Michael Wolff](http://time.com/5088835/donald-trump-michael-wolff-early-publication/), “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which features harsh comments from Bannon about the president and his family. The book has prompted an intense response from the White House and the president himself, with Trump [issuing a statement](http://time.com/5086254/trump-steve-bannon-book/) dismissing Bannon’s role in the 2016 election and saying his former strategist “lost his mind.” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has since said she is “[furious” and “disgusted”](http://time.com/5086673/white-house-steve-bannon-president-trump-briefing/) about the upcoming book and Trump’s lawyer sent a [cease and desist letter](http://time.com/5087774/michael-wolff-book-cease-desist-letter-steve-bannon/) to Wolff. Despite her apparent anger at Bannon and the current controversy, Mercer told the _Post_ she would continue to support Breitbart News, where Bannon still serves as chairman. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/"},"headline":"Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer","datePublished":"2018-01-04T23:46:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:26:51.601Z","description":"The conservative donor said she stands by President Trump","url":"https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/","keywords":["steve bannon","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt195ba2acc07880f3/6988f72ce76ad2579c630850/steve-bannon-trump-feud-rebekah-mercer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt195ba2acc07880f3/6988f72ce76ad2579c630850/steve-bannon-trump-feud-rebekah-mercer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore Holds Election Eve Rally","caption":"Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore Holds Election Eve Rally","creditText":"Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/steve-bannon/","name":"steve bannon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5089015/steve-bannon-loses-support-rebekah-mercer/","name":"Steve Bannon Just Lost Big Financial Backer Rebekah Mercer"}}]}] ```