Stephen K. Bannon, who will serve as President-elect Donald Trump's chief strategist, told the media outlet that Trump won thanks in part to "hobbits and deplorables."
Bannon appeared on Friday's "Breitbart News Daily" and told the hosts 2016 was a good year.
"We don't like to try to guess what's going to happen in the future, but I've got to tell you, I think people were very engaged in this election, and I think will be very engaged as time goes forward," Bannon said.
"The key is to hold people accountable. The hobbits, or the deplorables, had a great run in '16. Everybody mocked them and ridiculed them, and now they've spoken. I think '17 is going to be a very exciting year."
Bannon was named to Trump's administration less than a week after the Nov. 8 election. Critics slammed his place on Trump's staff, accusing him of being part of the alt-right — a group that's often associated with white nationalists.
Bannon, who previously worked as the executive chairman of Breitbart before taking a job as the Trump campaign's CEO in August, said 2016 was "historic."
"I think we've lived through an historic time," Bannon said Friday. "I think we'll talk about what happened in this year politically for many, many decades to come. It was exciting to live through it."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.