Former RNC and new Lincoln Project member pillories GOP for 'capitulation' to Trump

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Michael Steele, the first Black chair of the Republican National Committee and recent high-profile addition for the Lincoln Project, still harbors a lot of resentment for the Republican Party over its role in allowing President Trump to come to power, he revealed in an interview published by The Guardian on Sunday.

Steele is still a Republican, and he joined the anti-Trump, conservative Lincoln Project, out of principle, he said, adding that he considers his fellow Republicans who back the president to be "collaborators." While Steele expressed anger at the GOP's "capitulation" to Trump, he also seemed confused as to how it all unfolded, adding that if he was still chairing the RNC (he left the position in 2011) "it damn sure wouldn't have happened ... and people in this party know that's true."

He said that, going forward, Republicans will "need to explain why they allowed Donald Trump to crap all over their plans to build out the party after they lost the 2012 election," referring to the GOP's determination to appeal to young voters, women, and minorities after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was defeated by former President Barack Obama that year. Read more of Steele's perspective on the Republican Party at The Guardian.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.