Steve Bannon backs Boris Johnson over burqa 'bank robber' comments: 'Nothing to apologize for'

LONDON — Republican strategist Steve Bannon weighed into British politics Sunday in a wide-ranging interview in which he defended former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comments about Muslim face veils and praised a controversial British far-right leader.

The former aide to President Donald Trump said Johnson had “nothing to apologize for” and should not “bow at the altar of political correctness” after he was criticized for saying women who wear burqas look like “letterboxes” and “bank robbers.”

Johnson made the comments in a newspaper column that argued against banning



full-face veils, as Denmark has done.

“Excuse me, didn’t he actually support the wearing of the veil?” Bannon told the Sunday Times. “His entire argument revolves around not wanting to ban the burqa, but arguing that he agrees that it’s an oppressive garment and that there is no scriptural basis for it in the Quran, which is true. I think the substance got lost because of his throwaway line.”

Johnson has been criticized by Muslim groups and politicians, including Prime Minister Theresa May, who urged Johnson to apologize. Johnson’s representatives have said he won’t apologize.