The Book to Understand Steve Bannon

White House adviser Stephen Bannon tells Jonathan Swan that The Revolt of the Elites by Christopher Lasch is one of his favorite books and helps explain the current moment.

“Reading The Revolt of the Elites gives you a deeper appreciation of the populist nationalist movement that propelled Trump to the presidency. It also gives you deeper insight into how Bannon thinks — his disdain for experts and party establishments, his skepticism on multinationals, his commitment to information warfare and the Breitbart comments section, his antipathy toward ‘globalists’ and his particular distrust of the West Coast elite Lasch writes feel more loyalty to Hong Kong and Singapore than they do to ‘Middle America.'”

Key passage: “At this point in our history the best qualification for high office may well be a refusal to cooperate with the media’s program of self-aggrandizement. A candidate with the courage to abstain from ‘debates’ organized by the media would automatically distinguish himself from the others and command a good deal of public respect.”