A former chairman of the Republican National Committee said President Trump will “ill communicate” his message on border security during his prime-time address on Tuesday.
“The president is his own worst communicator. He’s always been on these things,” Michael Steele said Monday on MSNBC, where he is a political analyst.
Steele referred to a moment in an interview Sunday in which White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was fact-checked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace after she claimed terrorists pour into the U.S. via the border with Mexico.
“It doesn’t matter, Sarah Sanders engaging with Chris Wallace. It doesn’t matter,” Steele argued. “At the end of the day we’re going to see and hear and know tomorrow night from the man himself. And he will ill communicate the conversation with the American people.”
[Read more: Democrats demand ‘equal air time’ to parry Trump’s border security speech]
“The President is own worst communicator…”Watch: Fmr. RNC Chairman @MichaelSteele has some advice for Democrats ahead of Trump’s planned address ….
w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/5SsiumrgOo
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) January 7, 2019
Steele said if House Democrats are smart, they will “take their time” in performing immigration oversight, as they now control the lower chamber, and get “appropriate video and file records.”
The issue of border security funding is the root of a political fight over federal spending that has resulted in the shutdown of parts of the government for 17 days.
Steele served as RNC chairman from 2009 to 2011 after serving as lieutenant governor of Maryland.
