Carville: Bannon cellmate can make ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ argument

Lauren Irwin

June 26, 2024 at 8:51 a.m.·2 min read

Democratic strategist James Carville said Steve Bannon, who is set to report to prison next week, should be given a private cell, because any inmate could make an argument that rooming with Bannon is “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment.

Carville joined MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Tuesday to discuss Bannon’s conviction and the former Trump campaign official’s recent statements.

“But I think whoever his cellmate is can make a good Eighth Amendment case, if you remember that from law school. That’s cruel and unusual punishment,” Carville said, as highlighted by Mediaite. “You have to be in the cell and smell this guy. I think that’s something out of some North Korean torture chamber.”

His comments come after Bannon told The Guardian that he believes everyone in the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee should believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, claims that have not been substantiated.

The ex-White House adviser to former President Trump is set to report to prison on July 1. He filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, a last-ditch effort to avoid serving time.

He was convicted on contempt of Congress charges after being found guilty in 2022 of failing to appear for a deposition before the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and refused to produce requested documents.

Carville, who served as an adviser for former President Clinton, said he is going to have four months under his sentence “to contemplate everything.”

Bannon is “gonna have a lot of time to think about 2020 and his past life and whatever the future holds,” he told the host, adding, “But please, Lord … he needs a cell by himself, because he’s gonna stink that jail up something fierce.”

On Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he will file a legal brief in support of the former Trump adviser’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.

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