A MSNBC host and former Republican Party leader has serious concerns that former President Donald Trump’s picks to lead the Republican National Committee will lead to an “implosion” at the GOP headquarters.
Earlier this month, Trump announced plans to replace current RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel with daughter-in-law Lara Trump and North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley as co-chairs. Michael Steele, co-host of “The Weekend” and former RNC chairman, warned that Trump’s control and rebranding of the organization is aimed at self-preservation, which will ultimately tank the party.
“It’s going to end in an implosion about as dramatic as his failed Atlantic City casino,” Steele wrote in an op-ed on MSNBC Friday.
Lara Trump and Whatley would focus on recouping legal costs for him and retaking the White House come November.
Trump’s daughter-in-law recently stated during a television interview that “every single penny will go to the No. 1 and the only job of the RNC — that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.”
Steele argued that the job of RNC chairperson extends far beyond that narrow vision.
“As a former RNC chair myself, I can say with confidence that electing Trump — or any other presidential candidate — is not the only job,” Steele wrote, adding that other duties include keeping the House majority, retaking the Senate, rebuilding state parties, streamlining messaging, raising money for Republican candidates, working together to get out the vote, and serve as the face of the party to America.
“By going all-in on its capitulation to Trump, the party of fiscal responsibility is making an atrocious investment. It’s compounding the problems that it has already faced due to him,” Steele said. “As president, Trump abandoned free trade. He cozied up to brutal authoritarian leaders. He racked up huge deficits and embraced reckless spending.
“If his willful ignorance and apathy toward conservative principles wasn’t enough (remember, the GOP has failed to adopt a party platform), Trump has led the Republican Party on an embarrassing losing streak, despite promises the GOP would ‘get tired of winning,'” Steele said, referring to midterm losses in 2022 despite forecasting a red wave that year.
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McDaniel hasn’t announced official plans for leaving the organization and previously said she would stay on until at least the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary. She has not been present at this year’s Conservative Political Action Committee meeting.
With Trump-aligned Republicans set to take over the party’s platform, Steele said he was among many who are concerned that any funds raised by the RNC headed into November will go toward Trump’s bottom line, not the party’s best interest.
