Michael Steele Envisions GOP Death Spiral Over Trump: This Is ‘How You Grind Yourself Into the Dust of Nothing’
Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele envisioned doom for the GOP on Tuesday morning, arguing neither Donald Trump’s MAGA base nor Nikki Haley supporters are enough to exclusively sustain the party.
Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist noted that Haley took nearly 40% of the vote in the South Carolina GOP primary, which Trump critics argue is a clear sign the former president will have trouble in the general election as a significant enough portion of his party and independents (South Carolina’s primary is open) will avoid supporting him.
Steele argued backing Trump is not a recipe for success for Republicans despite his big wins in primaries thus far.
“It’s how you grind yourself down as a national party into the dust of nothing,” Steele said.
The MSNBC political analyst added, “There is no real runway here to sustain long term growth prospects for the Republican Party with Donald Trump as its head.”
On the flip side, Steele also noted Haley lost in her home state where she was governor for two terms. There’s a question, he argued, of where her “base” is to actually win primaries and then general elections.
“Here’s the deal, that 40% is not a real number. I mean, when you’ve got Democrats and Independents who are voting in your primary, in a Republican primary, you have to say something to yourself about, where is my base?” Steele said, noting more than 20% of Haley’s votes came from non-Republicans.
The former RNC added that the majority of the RNC leadership today is made up of people who came up under Trump and the potential of his daughter-in-law Lara Trump joining that leadership solidifies his standing as the head of the party, and Steele didn’t offer much hope under that scenario.
“The reality is Donald Trump, everything he touches does die. Everything he has tried to put in place does not work,” he said. “The RNC is now going to be controlled by his daughter-in-law, basically.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
