Ex-GOP chair exposes the Trump myth Republicans can’t escape

President Donald Trump spent Labor Day weekend posting many images made by artificial intelligence, including doctored photos of him in military uniforms he never wore with medals he never earned.

Speaking about it on MS NOW, host Peter Alexander asked former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele who these images are helping. Steele said they're only helping Donald Trump personally.

"In his mind, it does. It is the mythification process that he wants to — it's why he puts out all these memes," said Steele. "It's why, you know, he's sitting there with George Washington, like George Washington is honored to be in the second chair to Donald Trump. It's why he shows himself sitting on thrones or in the image of Christ. You know, the mythification of Donald Trump is what the second term is about. It is what's playing out in his head."

"This idea of hegemony dividing the globe up where, you know, Xi [Jinping] has Asia, [Vladimir] Putin has Europe, and Donald Trump owns the Americas," Steele continued. "So, that is playing out in his head. Meanwhile, Republicans are sitting there going, Mr. President, we've got to run campaigns. We've got to talk to the American people about what we're going to do for them, how we're going to help them, how we're going to improve the quality of their lives?"

Trump, Steele says, is responding only with, "I'll get back to you in a moment."

Alexander honed in on the idea of the "mythification" of Trump and noted that it makes him seem increasingly "disengaged" as he spends weekends at one of his many country clubs.

Steele said that voters have already started to "bake in" the economic pain and who they intend to blame for it, and it's Republicans. The same Republicans "who sat on their behinds for the last two years and have done jack. Listening to a man who doesn't listen to them."

He said that despite years in politics, he doesn't know how Republicans get their members reelected, much less expand the majority simply because the lows are "historic." It's why so many red states are in play, he added.

"So, I don't know how you recover in eight weeks," he added.

Alexander brought up the corruption that continues to be reported coming out of Trump's administration. According to Steele, it may not be the top issue for Americans struggling to get by in a difficult economy, but corruption is certainly at the top of mind for many Americans.

One of those AI images that Trump posted on TruthSocial in his spree over the weekend was an image of him with several monitors on the Resolute Desk day-trading on the stock market.

"Well, baby, where's my proceeds? Where is it? I'm looking at my checkbook. I don't see it. Where is it?" Steele asked. "Where's the proceeds from your day-trading for me? Because I don't know a situation in the world in which I get to day-trade."

He said that people aren't stupid. Images like that aren't created by Democrats. "It's created by you. It's you telling us that. Tell me that. Tell me how that helps me with my gas prices for my business. Because now it costs me $1,000 a week to run the trucks."