Is steve bannon workikng with ICE
Executive summary
Steve Bannon publicly called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “surround the polls” during the 2026 midterms on his War Room podcast, a repeated, high‑profile advocacy statement reported across outlets [1] [2] [3]. The available reporting documents his advocacy and influence but does not present evidence that Bannon is formally employed by, embedded with, or operationally coordinating with ICE agents [2] [4].
1. Bannon’s statement: a direct call to deploy ICE at polling places
On February 4, 2026 Bannon declared on his War Room show, “You’re damn right, we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November,” language quoted verbatim and reprinted by multiple national outlets that covered the clip and his accompanying rhetoric about alleged voter fraud [2] [1] [3].
2. How the press frames his influence, not an operational role
Coverage emphasizes Bannon’s status as a former White House strategist and influential podcaster advocating a policy outcome — not as someone reporting he is acting inside ICE or arranging deployments — with outlets noting his continuing sway in conservative circles and alignment with President Trump’s broader commentary about nationalizing aspects of voting [2] [4] [5].
3. Reactions and the legal/political context that reporters cite
Journalists and commentators flagged alarm from Democrats, voting‑rights groups and commentators who say federal or state law and norms prohibit using federal immigration agents to intimidate voters, and pointed to warnings this kind of rhetoric could suppress turnout; some reports also invoked legal authorities that view such deployments as voter intimidation [6] [7] [8].
4. What the reporting does — and does not — show about any formal Bannon–ICE relationship
The assembled coverage consistently documents Bannon’s public exhortation and the political fallout but contains no reporting that he has been hired by ICE, is embedded inside the agency, or is coordinating operational deployments; outlets repeat his prediction that the federal government will place ICE at polling sites, but they do not corroborate an actual, ongoing ICE program orchestrated by Bannon [2] [1] [4]. The sources also do not carry statements from ICE confirming plans or describing direct contact with Bannon, a gap the reporting itself does not fill [2] [7].
5. Competing interpretations and the bottom line
Sympathetic commentators and some allied operatives echo Bannon’s framing that federal agents are needed to prevent supposed election theft, while critics describe the rhetoric as intimidation and a thinly veiled power play; the news reporting captures both positions but, critically, provides no factual basis to say Bannon is “working with ICE” in an operational or employment sense — he is publicly advocating for ICE presence and predicting it will happen, not documented as an ICE collaborator [3] [9] [10]. Because the sources lack ICE statements or reporting of formal coordination, the responsible conclusion from available reporting is that Bannon is calling for and predicting ICE deployments, not demonstrably working with the agency in a formal or operational capacity [2] [6].