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With the presidential election fast approaching, one of Donald Trump’s most supportive media personalities, Steve Bannon, is set to return to the fold as a wildcard in the final week of voting. 

After being sentenced to 120 days in prison after being convicted of contempt of Congress, popular right-wing podcast host and former Trump advisor Bannon is set to be released from a federal prison in Connecticut on Tuesday, where he was incarcerated after failing to respond to two subpoenas during the House’s January 6 investigation. 

Bannon, who went from a key architect of the Make America Great Again movement to an official campaign advisor to a popular podcast host, has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump but also a divisive and controversial figure. Recently, Trump has also made Bannon a symbol for his claims that Democrats are weaponizing the federal government against conservatives. 

Now, the Trump faithful think his return could galvanize supporters and encourage his audience to vote. Being in prison did not stop Bannon from urging his fans to support Trump in the high-stakes election, but his comeback could re-engage an audience that lagged during his absence. 

“The stakes have never been higher; this is the opportunity to take back control. We are not just fighting for a win; we are fighting for the future of America,” Bannon wrote in a letter from prison in September. He used the letter to urge conservatives to “engage” with voters to “motivate them to cast their ballots.” He continued, saying, “With relentless effort and personal contact, they will break our way.”  

Those closest to Bannon saw his prosecution and imprisonment as part of a wider Biden administration effort to weaponize the federal government against conservatives. In Bannon’s case, his daughter believes the Justice Department wanted to silence him ahead of an important election by imprisoning him and delaying an early release. 

“To me, it’s blatantly clear they’re trying to keep my dad illegally detained because at this point, he is eligible for release,” Maureen said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast last week. “So this is an illegal detainment in order to keep him silent ahead of the most crucial election in our lifetime.

“They want to keep such an influential voice in this movement silenced, or what they think is silenced, because he’s still getting his voice heard, but they’re trying to do everything they can to keep him to the very last possible moment,” she added. 

Indeed, Bannon’s podcast—”The War Room” —suffered during his absence, according to Podcharts, an analytics firm, the New York Times reported. At the beginning of this month, the podcast was ranked 52nd in political podcasts. Before Bannon reported to prison, the show regularly ranked in the top 10. 

Trump’s political allies believe Bannon’s return could galvanize Trump’s base and encourage low-propensity voters to turn out.  “Steve Bannon is the intellectual leader and general of the MAGA movement,” Trump ally Mike Davis and frequent guest on Bannon’s show told the Times. “Bannon will come out of prison a week before the election like a roaring caged lion.”

Bannon will reportedly hold a press conference Tuesday following his release.  Raheem Kassam, a conservative British commentator and close ally of Bannon who has “been in touch with Steve almost every day,” said the podcast host will be “newly invigorated” and will likely be working overtime to turn out voters for Trump. 

Newly invigorated

“Expect to see a newly invigorated Stephen K. Bannon, more intent than ever to take his fight to the administrative state,” Kassam told NOTUS. “I would not be surprised to see him immediately hitting the campaign trail, as well as hosting his ‘War Room’ show for four hours each day. Every second will count. Every word will matter.”

Natalie Winters, the co-host of Bannon’s War Room podcast, said all eyes were on the election, and that would be Bannon’s focus. 

“Eleven days until Stephen K. Bannon is free,” fill-in host Natalie G. Winters said on the Oct. 18 edition of the show. “But make no mistake, as I’m sure Stephen K. Bannon would definitely agree with me: The real countdown is not just when Stephen K. Bannon is let out of federal prison. The real countdown is until Jan. 20, when retribution — or as we call it here in the war room — justice starts.” 

Bannon was sent to prison earlier this year to serve a sentence after he was charged and convicted of Contempt of Congress after failing to respond to two subpoenas from the January 6 Select Committee investigating the riot at the Capitol and former President Trump’s actions surrounding the incident. Of note is that Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States under President Obama was similarly found in contempt for refusing to cooperate with congressional investigations, into the “Fast and Furious” scandal, but was never reprimanded or arrested. 

Bannon’s trial concluded in summer 2022 after a jury found him guilty. Bannon had attempted to invoke executive privilege to avoid testifying about his conversations with Trump surrounding the Capitol riot, but was largely precluded from citing this during his original trial, his lawyer argued. 

Bannon did not immediately report to serve his sentence because a court postponed the punishment while various appeals were pending. A federal appeals court in June denied Bannon’s attempt to further postpone his prison sentence, concluding his arguments would most likely not persuade the Supreme Court. 

Even though he is set to be released from federal prison, Bannon still faces a state-level case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who charged him with money laundering crimes related to a private fundraising scheme to finish construction of Trump’s southern border wall. 

Several others affiliated with Trump fundraising efforts have already been convicted and sentenced for participating in redirecting funds to personal salaries or aiding in the effort. In the waning hours of his first term, Trump had pardoned Bannon for federal crimes, but Bragg later charged the former advisor at the state level.