'Deep stain': Former RNC chair torches GOP lawmakers trying to distance from Donald Trump

01 December 2022

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Steele recently offered a blistering assessment of the political party as its leaders are now attempting to distance themselves from Trumpism.

On Wednesday, November 30, Steele appeared on MSNBC where he discussed the issue with host Joy Reid. Opening the discussion, Reid began with remarks about former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago dinner with far-right influencer, Nick Fuentes.

"The story is the creeping white nationalism that has infected the party that all of these people support, the party that has invited hate and fear of fellow Americans as guests to Thanksgiving dinner,” she said, adding, "And until they kick this ideology out and not just slap Trump around a little bit because he lost them elections, I mean, kicked them out. All the prosecutions in the world won’t make any difference.”

Reid went on to introduce Steele saying:

Joining me now is Michael Steele, MSNBC political analyst, former chair of the Republican National Committee and host of the Michael Steele podcast. And Jason Stanley, professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of How Fascism Works.

And I do want to start with you, Michael, because you used to be in charge of this party. So you know what it means when the creep begins and the creep began with the Tea Party and you had to wrestle with it. But you actually are somebody with integrity and with a mind of your own. Kevin McCarthy, as somebody who’s got to now steer this ship. Let me just play you what who his new boss is.

Reid shifted to a clip featuring Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introducing Fuentes at a white nationalist event. “Here’s Marjorie Taylor Greene at Nick Fuentes’s event. So if Nick Fuentes is untouchable. Well, she touched. Here she is,” Reid continued

"Do you know what it’s like to be canceled? And that’s why I’m here to talk to you tonight," Greene could be heard saying at the event. "I don’t believe anyone should be canceled. I don’t believe in separating people and identities. I don’t believe in separating people and classes. But that’s what the Democrats believe in, because that’s what Marxism is. That’s what communism is.”

“And she was introduced by Fuentes at that event,” Reid emphasized.

Steele wasted no time offering a critical opinion on the direction of the political party he once led. “Yeah. Which is that’s just a load of crap. It’s total B.S," Steele said. "So she doesn’t want to cancel people and she doesn’t want to break people off into these different classes or whatever. Then why are you calling your fellow Republicans RINOs?”

He added, "Why are you, why are you separating those of us who have been stalwarts of Lincoln, Reagan, Eisenhower, Bush Republicanism as something as a pariah?

"So, you know, just cut the act. You’re hanging out with the people who represent your values and your interest. When you show up at a Fuentes event that says more about you than it does Fuentes, because we know who he is. We know what that is. So now your embrace of it says a lot about you."

Steele also shared an "ugly truth" about the Republican Party in its current state. "But here’s the ugly, dirty little rub, Joy, is that the leadership of the Republican Party refuses to reject it, refuses to say that’s not us, MTG, Margaret, whatever, Marjorie Taylor Greene, whatever we want to call you, you’re not going those to those events anymore," he said. "You’re going to go out and you’re going to reject that."

Expressing concern about the efforts to distance from Trump, Steele said, "You don’t hear that narrative emerging from within the leadership. They want all of us at this point to fixate on, ‘We’re past Trump, right? We’re no longer doing Trump. Trump. Oh Trump was bad. Oh, this bright, shiny object down in Florida. Let’s focus on that in Governor DeSantis.’"

He added, "But I’m sorry you don’t get to wipe that stain off your clean white shirt that easily because that’s a deep stain. January 6th was a deep stain. Embracing Fuentes was a deep stain. While you may not have done so directly, the leader of your party did. And as the head of your party and as a leader on the Hill or representing the party across the country at the state level, if you don’t reject that, then that’s you, baby."

Steele concluded his argument saying, "And those of us who reject it have tried to be very clear about that. But here we are.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Joy Reid: Creeping White Nationalism Has Infected The GOPwww.youtube.com

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