The New York Times reports:

Stephen K. Bannon, the millionaire former Trump adviser turned rabble rouser of European populists, settled into a plush set of rooms this week in Paris at the Bristol Hotel, where suites run up to $32,000 a night.

An unopened bottle of champagne in front of him, he presented himself as a man of the people and promoted Europe’s right-wing and populist parties even as voting was underway for the European Parliament — “the most important” election in Europe, he said in an interview on Thursday.

For months, Mr. Bannon has traveled around Europe, presenting himself as the linchpin of a populist revolution. But he was in Paris as nothing more than an “adviser-counselor” to Marine Le Pen, the far-right nationalist leader. “These people don’t need my help,” Mr. Bannon said.

That was good, because they no longer seemed to want his help, either.

All week in Paris, Mr. Bannon was hissed at by enemies, dominated the airwaves and caused an eruption in the French political class for meddling in the country’s affairs. He was kept at arm’s length by allies, perhaps most surprisingly even by those from the far right whom he has tried for months to pound into a Europe-wide populist rebellion. [Continue reading…]