Ex-RNC chair: Trump takeover of committee would be an 'atrocious investment'

23 February 2024

Now that Ronna Romney McDaniel is on her way out as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), former President Donald Trump is pushing for an ultra-MAGA makeover of the organization that would include Michael Whaley (who heads the North Carolina Republican Party) as chairman and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair.

But former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, a Never Trump conservative who now co-hosts "The Weekend" on MSNBC, believes that Donald Trump's "rebranding" would be terrible for the RNC — and for the Republican Party in general.

"In a recent television appearance," Steele argues in an op-ed published by MSNBC's website on February 23, "Lara Trump showed little appreciation for the responsibility her father-in-law is about to give her, as she summed up her guiding principle in a single sentence: 'Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC — that is, electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.' 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, who is still a Republican but is rooting for President Joe Biden in 2024, continues, "Winning the White House is always a top goal, but as I've said before, the RNC chair has a number of other duties, which, this year, would include keeping the House majority, retaking the Senate, rebuilding state parties, raising money for Republican candidates, coordinating campaign messaging, developing a party platform, planning get-out-the-vote efforts and serving as the public face of the GOP. By going all-in on its capitulation to Trump, the party of fiscal responsibility is making an atrocious investment."

The GOP's "unfettered loyalty to Trump," Steele emphasizes, is "splintering local Republican parties in crucial battleground states" such as Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

"For nearly a decade," the former RNC chairman and ex-Maryland lieutenant governor laments, "we've seen the chaos, the division, the grifters and the conspiracy theories Trump ushered in consume the Republican Party. And now, it appears this once-great party wants more of the same. So much for winning."

Michael Steele's full MSNBC op-ed is available at this link.

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