Ex-RNC Chair's Stark Warning on 'Threat' Posed by Donald Trump
Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), warned voters on Saturday that Donald Trump is a "threat" and that a second term for him "represents clear and present danger."
Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has also recently been shown to be leading President Joe Biden in five out of six key swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to a New York Times & Siena College poll released last week. Multiple national polls also show the former president leading Biden.
However, this comes amid Trump's various legal troubles as he faces trials at both the state and federal levels as he has been indicted in four separate cases: two brought by Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, one by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and another from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all the cases, maintaining his innocence.
Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, issued his warning about Trump in an article with The Guardian in which he said voters need to recognize the threat the former president poses in the 2024 election.
"He represents a clear and present danger. He is a threat and I take him at his word. When a candidate says, 'I am your retribution' to his base, that's not good for the rest of us. People need to get their heads out of their behinds when it comes to what that threat is," Steele said.
Newsweek has reached out to the Michael Steele Network and Trump via email for comment.
The former RNC chairman added that despite polling numbers putting Trump ahead of Biden in key swing states, it "is mind-numbingly painful to believe because it says to me that you value the country and its constitution far less than you value your own self-gratification. I get it; times are not equally good for everybody at the same time; people are going through stuff, absolutely."
Steele said he refuses to believe the former president is the better option for Americans.
"But I'm not going to sit back and say that the guy who tried to overthrow the government, who botched the most consequential pandemic in modern times, resulting in the death of over a million Americans, who plays footsies with our enemies in Russia and China, is going to be the answer to high inflation which, by the way, is half of what it was a year ago. I'm not buying what folks out there are trying to sell with thinking that it will be better with Donald Trump," he explained.
The warning comes after Trump was recently asked during an interview with Univision that, if he's reelected to a second term, would he weaponize the FBI and DOJ on his perceived enemies in the same way he claims federal law enforcement agencies have been weaponized against him.
"Yeah. If they do this, and they've already done it, but if they follow through on this, yeah, it could certainly happen in reverse," the former president said.
Meanwhile, Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen warned voters this week amid Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial in New York about how a second term for Trump could threaten the U.S. Constitution and people's First Amendment rights.
"Donald made me the very first political prisoner held by this country for failing to waive a First Amendment constitutional right," Cohen, who is a key witness in the trial, said in an MSNBC interview on All In With Chris Hayes. "Let me be very clear about something: I won't be the last if in fact he gets into office."
Trump and his allies say that the former president made the U.S. stronger, and that Biden has weakened the country's standing in the world. The former president often accuses Biden and Democrats of "destroying" the country, and says the legal challenges he faces are all politically motivated.
Update 11/12/23, 1:23 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jqagnKCRmrluv9OenKWdXae7pHnCoZiiql2srrO60mabqKaRobFuwNGupKllpJ2%2Fpq3TZmhxbGJugnY%3D