Michael Steele, the first Black chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), has become a prominent voice in American politics since his election in 2009, just ten days after Barack Obama made history as the first Black president of the United States. That message was dramatized nationally when Steele inadvertently introduced the nation to the phrase “Drill, baby, drill” during that same tenure. He steered the party to huge gains in Congress and state legislatures in the 2010 midterm elections. In 2011, he lost his chairmanship to Reince Priebus. Since then, he’s turned into one of the most prominent critics of Donald Trump and his takeover of the GOP.
Steele has spent his entire life growing up and working in Washington, D.C. While at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, he began to hone his perceptions of politics and civic duty. He spent three formative years with the Order of St. Augustine as a seminarian. At the same time, he consciously trained himself to one day become a priest. Though Steele himself did not go down that road, his story embodies the principled devotion to cause and conviction of mission.
Steele’s opposition to Trump was evident from the beginning of Trump’s rise in politics. In book after book, Kinsley warned against how Trump abused the typical party dynamics and repurposed party institutions. Steele remarked, “Once you beholden yourself to a bully, you will always be bullied. It’s not a complicated narrative.” He criticized institutions that yielded to Trump’s tactics, stating, “I thought that there would be more resistance from lawyers and institutions of higher learning than we’ve seen.”
Reflecting on the challenges that Trump presented to traditional political norms, Steele said, “The administration came out of the gate with an everything-everywhere-all-at-once strategy that overwhelmed institutions and processes in a way that it was easier to collapse and give in than to stand and resist.” He pointed out that many of the institutions that pushed back ended up doing better in the long term.
After taking a hiatus from the RNC, Steele rebounded with a homecoming at the Lincoln Project. This caucus of anti-Trump Republicans is determined to protect the integrity of our democracy. Now you can catch him co-hosting The Weeknight, a new show on the liberal shark tank known as MSNBC. His presence in mainstream media has allowed him to articulate his views and critique not only Trump but the party’s direction.
For all his barbs directed towards the GOP, Steele is still a part of the party. He forgets to mention that he describes himself as a Republican. He seeks to “keep the lights on” to try and convince his party to come back to its original ideological roots. This position is notable in light of his expressed view that accountability is important for Democrats as well as for Republicans as we look ahead.
During a panel discussing the upcoming midterm elections, Steele makes an early and bold prediction of huge Democratic gains. He stated, “For me the most important conversation Democrats and independents and like-minded Republicans like myself need to be having is: are we prepared to hold every last one of these folks accountable?” He further emphasized that Democrats should aim to secure a minimum of 30 to 35 seats in November’s House elections.
Steele’s remarkable political journey has not come without trials and tribulations. That’s why he voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024. This decision sent waves of panic throughout party purists. He’s been adamant that these are the choices he’s made because they stem from his commitment to democratic values, not a break from Republican ideals.
Steele reflects on Trump’s long-term effect on the party. He reports that true believers are indeed banging the drum and pushing his agenda to where he wants it to go. “I guess at a certain point an old man will run out of steam,” he observed. But he’s got enough other engines around him in [Steve] Bannon and [Stephen] Miller and [Kash] Patel that they will keep things going.
Steele thinks that, deep down, Trump’s inner circle knows what he wants. In fact, they have positioned themselves at his behest to follow his orders to feed their own self-enrichment. “They know what he wants. They have bought into his diktats. They see themselves benefiting directly and indirectly from everything that is happening so they will continue to pursue those agendas,” he stated.
Steele’s critique of Trump is more than second-hand politics. He digs deep into the psychological underpinnings of Trump’s ever-present quest for approval. He called Trump’s whining “so pathetic,” and said it “is a lonely, desperate cry for acceptance.” This view invites both more movement and more appreciation of the heart that beats under the political passions.