Former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele had a terse message Monday for conservatives who would depart the Republican Party to observe former President Donald Trump.
“You have 46% of the folks saying they will follow Trump,” Steele mentioned on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I’m like, OK, there’s the door. Y’all go do your thing, and we’ll just pick up the pieces on this side and keep moving. And that’s the battle.”
He was discussing a Suffolk University/USA Today poll that discovered 46% of Republicans surveyed would abandon the GOP and be part of a Trump celebration if the previous president determined to type one. Just 27% surveyed mentioned they wouldn’t. The remaining quantity mentioned they have been undecided.
The outcomes confirmed a plurality of Republicans favored Trump regardless of the lethal Jan. 6 rebellion on the U.S. Capitol that was led by his supporters, who sought to overthrow the election and harm lawmakers who stood in Trump’s method. Trump’s actions in inciting the assault on the Capitol led to his second impeachment by the U.S. House. He was acquitted within the Senate.
Steele headed the RNC from 2009 to 2011. He’s been a loud Trump critic for years and in 2020 joined the anti-Trump conservative group The Lincoln Project in its battle in opposition to the forty fifth president.
The outcomes of the ballot present simply how deeply Trump’s rhetoric has embedded itself inside the celebration, Steele mentioned.
“You can’t turn the corner on that,” he mentioned. “You’ve got the national leadership making their way down to Mar-a-Lago to confer with Trump,” he mentioned, referring to conferences between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and the previous president in Florida since he left workplace. “About what?”
He mentioned the GOP’s focus now ought to be on what it does subsequent.
“And that’s where the battle lines are drawn,” he mentioned, referencing Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), each of whom have confronted criticism from inside the celebration for voting with Democrats to question Trump in January.
″[They’re] standing on one facet saying, ‘Here’s the rational, conservative method to small authorities, efficient management, particular person liberties, and many others.,’” Steele mentioned. “And then there’s this. The Trump party.”
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