Steve Bannon scoffs amid search for US pilots in Iran: 'Gonna get some people shot down'

MAGA influencer Steve Bannon suggested downed pilots were the price of fighting a war with Iran.

After reports said that the U.S. military was searching for the pilots of a crashed F-15 on Friday, Bannon noted that CENTCOM had flown around 12,000 sorties during the war.

"First off, that's an extraordinary amount just in the time we've been there," he explained. "These things are going to happen. You're going to get some people shot down. That's just the reality."

Author Brandon Weichert told Bannon that he hoped the downed jet was a "wake-up call" for the White House.

"But I'm still watching these troops flowing into the region," he noted. "So to me, this looks like we're plussing up. Doesn't look like we're de-escalating."

"Unfortunately, again, it looks like Trump is still tempted to, to climb that escalation ladder," Weichert added. "And I can't stress enough how significant of a problem this will be for the United States if we get bogged down in a ground war."