If you’ve ever wondered who would watch Star Wars and say to themselves, “hey, that Darth Vader guy is all right,” that question now has an answer. And it’s an obvious one: Steve Bannon, of course. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published just this afternoon, Bannon—Donald Trump’s third campaign manager who is now being proposed for the position of chief strategist for the incoming administration—names some of his political role models, and they’re right out of an episode of South Park.
Sitting inside the earthbound Death Star that is apparently Trump Tower on the day The New York Times described as “disarray” for the Trump team, Bannon was asked how he felt about his reputation as a liberal boogeyman. After searching his feelings, Bannon replied:
Darkness is good. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s power. It only helps us when they get it wrong. When they’re blind to who we are and what we’re doing.
He also describes himself as “not a white nationalist, I’m a nationalist. I’m an economic nationalist,” if that’s, um, comforting. Conservative pundit Bill Kristol, who came out in support of the Galactic Empire’s policies last fall, is presumably interviewing for a position in the incoming administration as we speak.
You can read Bannon’s comments in full, including a lengthy discussion of his populist views on economics and intense dislike of The New York Times, in his Hollywood Reporter profile.