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


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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday
-
Smithsonian asserts its autonomy from Trump
speed read The DC institution defied Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet
-
Trump sends Marines to LA, backs Newsom arrest
speed read California Gov. Gavin Newsom is filing lawsuits in response to Trump's escalation of the federal response to ICE protests