Over the weekend, the USA Today editorial board published an op-ed that claimed Steve Bannon and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi share similar worldviews.
It argued that Bannon, President Donald Trump‘s chief strategist, has “apocalyptic visions of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West,” just like Baghdadi.
Tucker Carlson took on David Mastio, USA Today’s deputy editorial page editor.
“We’re at war with a psychotic death cult, a fringe of the Islamic world,” Mastio said. “Bannon agrees with Baghdadi that it is a war between Islam and the West. We don’t need to give Baghdadi that propaganda victory.”
Tucker said that could be a legitimate argument, but claiming that Bannon shares a worldview with the leader of a terrorist organization is an outrageous overstatement that diminishes his point.
Tucker added that one of the core problems with the USA Today piece – and with so much of the dialogue on the subject – is that it’s apparently off-limits to say that ISIS is fighting what it believes to be a religious war.
“They see it in religious terms. And why is it wrong to say that out loud? Because, once again, it’s true,” Tucker said.
He said that Bannon acknowledging that ISIS sees it as a religious war does not mean that he’s similar to the ISIS leader, or that he’s claiming it’s a fight against all of Islam.