Liz Truss appeared on stage with Steve Bannon, who after a speech the night before lifted his straight right arm with his palm flat as the crowd chanted ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’
Liz Truss traded conspiracy theories with a former Donald Trump advisor accused of making a ‘Nazi salute’ on stage at a US conservative conference.
Former Prime Minister Ms Truss appeared on a fringe stage with Steve Bannon, who now hosts War Room podcast at CPAC, a pro-Trump event in Washington DC.
Speaking from the conference’s main stage on Thursday evening, Mr Bannon lifted his straight right arm with his palm flat as the crowd chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Bannon has denied the gesture was a “Nazi salute”, insisting it was a “wave to the crowd”. It comes after Elon Musk made a similar gesture at a rally for Donald Trump’s inauguration, but insisted it was intended to mean “my heart goes out to you”.
This morning, Ms Truss – who also spoke from the main stage yesterday – appeared on The War Room programme, interviewed by Bannon about Ukraine, free speech and questioning whether the Bank of England is being honest about Britain’s gold reserves.
She said reports of Keir Starmer preparing to present Trump with a plan to send 30,000 British and European troops as a peacekeeping force to Ukraine were “not going to happen.”
And she said she planned to launch her own “free speech media network” in the UK in the summer. “You will be uncensored and uncancellable on our network, Steve,” Ms Truss said. “He will be uncanelled by our network because we have found a way of delivering the truth to the British people.”
The Bank of England has seen a rush on gold orders in recent days, as traders move the precious metal to the United States in anticipation of Trump slapping tariffs on imports.
Bannon asked Ms Truss about claims the Bank were telling traders it could take 6-8 weeks to fulfil trades – rather than the days it normally takes. “People are questioning if the Bank of England still has the reserves that it’s talking about,” Bannon said. “You’ve been very adamant that your prime ministership ended because of the dee state’s control of the Bank of England. What do you have to say about this gold situation?”
Ms Truss replied: “We need Elon Musk, once he’s finished with Fort Knox, to get to the Bank of England to see what is actually going on there, because it is completely unaccountable.”
“I would like to know the truth, Steve,” she added.
Today, Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party cancelled a planned speech at the conference following the gesture. Bannon hit back, branding Bardella a “little boy, not a man” and saying he was “unworthy of leading France.”
Bardella said: “At this podium yesterday, while I was not present in the room, one of the speakers allowed himself, as a provocation, to make a gesture referring to Nazi ideology. Therefore, I have taken the immediate decision to cancel my scheduled speaking engagement at the event this afternoon.”
Earlier in the day, the Mirror caught up with Ms Truss after a previous interview – asking if she felt comfortable sharing a stage with Bannon. She did not answer.
