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Steve Bannon is helping raise millions to get the border wall built — out of hemp

He's backing a private project that has raised an astonishing $22 million from small donors, in just over a month.

While President Trump continues to battle with Congress over funding for building a U.S.-Mexico border wall, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon has been out building support for a do-it-yourself approach.

Once the planet’s most powerful political strategist with access to the Oval Office, Bannon is now helping raise money to fulfill Trump’s signature campaign promise. On Friday he headlined an event at the banquet hall of a retirement community in Arizona to raise private funds for a border wall — made out of hemp. So far the project, which grew out of a GoFundMe established by a veteran in December, has raised an astonishing $22 million from small donors.

Bannon wants the wall to be technologically state-of-the-art. “I'm obsessed with the hempcrete,” he said, referring to a concrete-like construction material made from hemp. “I think this plant has got tremendous entrepreneurial aspects to it, and it's innovative. We're not sitting there saying, ‘Hey, just a concrete wall or just a steel barrier.’ It has to be advanced technology.”

VICE News joined Bannon and the team behind "We Build the Wall" to learn how they plan to side-step Washington and help Trump deliver on his campaign promise.

This segment originally aired February 11, 2019, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.