Steve Bannon: Chris Christie didn't get a cabinet position because he didn't show up for 'Billy Bush weekend'

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Steve Bannon: Chris Christie didn't get a cabinet position because he didn't show up for 'Billy Bush weekend'

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Chris Christie

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Chris Christie

Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie missed out on a cabinet nomination because of his failure to support the president following the October 7 release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which the president was recorded boasting about grabbing women in a private conversation with show host Billy Bush. 

"Christie, because of Billy Bush weekend, was not looked at for a cabinet position," Bannon said in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," a preview of which was released Friday.

"He wasn't there for you on Billy Bush weekend so therefore he doesn't get a Cabinet position?" 60 Minutes host Charlie Rose asked. 

"I told him, 'The plane leaves at 11 o'clock in the morning. If you're on the plane, you're on the team,'" Bannon said. "Didn't make the plane."

While Democrats and Republicans alike predicted the tape would deal a fatal blow to Trump's campaign, Bannon insists he predicted Trump's supporters would forgive the remarks, which he characterized as "locker room talk," and told the president he had a "100% probability of winning."

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For Bannon, who managed the last few months of Trump's campaign, the response of those supporting Trump to the tape was a test of loyalty. 

"Billy Bush Saturday showed me who really had Donald Trump's back to play to his better angels," Bannon told Rose. "All you had to do, and what he did, was go out and continue to talk to the American people … People didn't care. They knew Donald Trump was just doing locker room talk with a guy. And they dismissed it. It had no lasting impact on the campaign."

Watch the clip here: