<\/p>\n
by Gabriel Sherman
\nVanity Fair<\/p>\n
In the closing days of the Alabama Senate election<\/a>, Steve Bannon<\/a><\/strong> told people that Donald Trump\u2019s<\/strong> political survival depended on Trump supporting Roy Moore.<\/strong> Bannon\u2019s argument, according to those who spoke with him, was that establishment Republicans and Democrats would use Moore\u2019s defeat as a political weapon to force Trump to face the sexual harassment allegations that have dogged him since the 2016 election. Bannon called Alabama Trump\u2019s \u201cfirebreak.\u201d<\/p>\n Last night, the flames leapt into the West Wing. Moore\u2019s dramatic loss to Democrat Doug Jones<\/strong> in a state Trump carried by 62 percent is sowing panic among some of Trump\u2019s kitchen Cabinet. \u201cThis shows the public is taking the sexual harassment issue seriously. The president has a big problem,\u201d a Republican close to the White House told me. Even before the election, Democrats renewed calls for Trump to resign for his alleged treatment of women. This week, three of Trump\u2019s accusers launched a media tour to elevate the issue. Even a member of Trump\u2019s administration weighed in. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley<\/a><\/strong> said on Face the Nation<\/em> that Trump\u2019s accusers should be \u201cheard\u201d and \u201cdealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n One Trump ally is making plans to commercialize Trump\u2019s downfall. Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone<\/strong><\/a> told me he is working on a book titled The Unmaking of the President<\/em> as part of a multi-book deal with Skyhorse Publishing. (Last fall, Skyhorse published Stone\u2019s campaign account, The Making of the President 2016.<\/em>) \u201cI\u2019ve been writing it as we go along,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n