- Steve Bannon, a conservative personality and a former White House chief strategist, reportedly appeared at a Topeka, Kansas, rally that attracted around 25 people - including the event's organizers and documentary filmmakers.
- The rally, dubbed "Red Tide Rising," was held at a Holiday Inn Express hotel. Attendees reportedly had received an unsolicited text message announcing the event.
- Bannon said Kansas' heated race in the 2nd Congressional District spurred his decision to make the impromptu trip to the state.
- "I never thought I'd be in Kansas in a House race," Bannon reportedly said. "This is the situation."
Steve Bannon, a conservative personality and a former White House chief strategist, appeared at an unpublicized rally that attracted around 25 people, including the event's organizers and documentary filmmakers, in Topeka, Kansas, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal.
The rally, dubbed "Red Tide Rising," was held at a Holiday Inn Express along a highway. Attendees reportedly had received an unsolicited text message announcing the event.
Bannon said Kansas' heated race in the 2nd Congressional District spurred his decision to make the impromptu trip to Kansas. Republican House candidate Steve Watkins has fallen four-points behind Democrat Paul Davis, according to a recent New York Times Upshot/Siena College Poll.
"I tip my hat to the opposition," Bannon said Tuesday, according to The Capital-Journal. "I like a good, fair fight. They have been aggressive. They've raised money. They've been on message, and it's up to us, right? You get the Trump people out, you're going to win."
"I never thought I'd be in Kansas in a House race," Bannon said to The Capital-Journal managing editor Sherman Smith. "This is the situation."
Although Bannon referred to himself as "sloppy Steve" - a label President Donald Trump ascribed after the release of a book in which Bannon was quoted making a series of critical remarks about Trump's family - the former chief strategist warned people that if Republicans do not head to the polls for the midterms, "we're going to lose this."
Watkins' spokesman, Bryan Piligra, reportedly signaled that his campaign had nothing to do with Bannon's event.
Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, previously urged voters to choose a different Republican candidate after Watkins "put out materials with a picture of President Trump in them, as though they have been endorsed by the president."
"In fact, the president has not endorsed them, and they appear to have acquired the pictures without going through the proper copyright procedures," Parscale said in an op-ed.