Michael Steele’s Up-Mountain Battle to Reform the Republican Party

Symone Sanders Townsend (0:00)

Oh, you see, I got these from Home Goods.

Eugene Daniels (0:03)

See what you got, I got a free Meet the Press.

Symone Sanders Townsend (0:05)

Oh, he got a cup that says Michael Steele.

Eugene Daniels (0:07)

I got a Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. Old school mug.

Symone Sanders Townsend (0:12)

You know, Michael Steele keeps his initials on his neck on his nice shirt, so that's why I knew he was rich. That's a wealthy black man. He came in a hoodie today.

Eugene Daniels (0:19)

That's a Republican, honey. No, he tried to look like a man of the people on Clock It.

Michael Steele (0:24)

I'm always. Mary and Barry taught me how to be a man of the people.

Symone Sanders Townsend (0:28)

The people don't know Mary and Barry is one of Michael Steele's mentors.

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to Clock It, where yes, it is less than a month to the midterms. And yes, the White House does continue to block news organizations on and off from Air Force One as the president travels around the country, rallying for Republican Congressional candidates. It feels to me, Eugene, he is in violation of the court order. I don't know.

Eugene Daniels (0:57)

You would think so. Let's see what the lawyers say. And yes, we did see the recent photos of Beyoncé all over Instagram. Yes, we do think she's getting ready for the tour. And yes, we are all concerned for our wives. You get politics and culture here. Don't forget that.

Symone Sanders Townsend (1:10)

Very much so. I've got my tour coin ready, Mrs. Carter. Just please, please wait until after Christmas. This week, folks, we invited the Michael Steele. He's the current co-host of The Weeknight. Among other things, you know him, and he came to join the group chat.

Eugene Daniels (1:27)

I am pretty confident that Clock It listeners, watchers, y'all know who the chairman is. But sometimes it's good to remind people of the credentials in his past lives. Michael Steele was the lieutenant governor of Maryland, a United States Senate candidate in Maryland.

Symone Sanders Townsend (1:41)

He was the chairman of GOPAC, which Newt Gingrich had run previously, and called the Republican Party's farm team. Now, Michael Steele ran GOPAC from 2007 until he was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2009

He started working with VIN MSNBC in 2011, and Michael Steele is the first, and to my knowledge, only black chair of the Republican National Committee in its history.

Eugene Daniels (2:05)

I think that's right. First and last, it appears.

Symone Sanders Townsend (2:09)

Welcome to the chair.

Michael Steele (2:13)

It's so good to be here, I think.

Eugene Daniels (2:16)

You think. Symone, what do you call the chairman constantly?

Symone Sanders Townsend (2:20)

A real Republican, child. Yes, because people forget. Michael Steele is a real Republican. Yes, people are like, oh, Michael Steele, he's a Democrat now. And every time I'm out in the streets, I'm like, hey, he's not a Democrat. He's a Republican, but Michael Steele knows he's black, okay?

And he understands the reality of the situation. He's not a Trumper. He's a real Republican, an old school Republican. And I think my daddy was a Republican.

Michael Steele (2:42)

I was black before I was anything else. Catholic, Republican, bald, so.

Eugene Daniels (2:49)

When you used to have hair, I need some pictures with you with some hair.

Michael Steele (2:51)

Oh, okay. We can arrange that.

Eugene Daniels (2:54)

Yeah, let's get some pictures with you with hair. Mr. Chairman, thank you for coming. People also may not know, and this is where I want to start. You trained for the priesthood.

And you are a practicing Catholic, I would say devout. And what I have seen that's been interesting in this midterms, and it's why a state like Kansas, I think, it seems in play with a Democrat who is a pastor. You have James Talarico in Texas, who constantly talks about his faith. I was with him, I think it was last week, times a flat circle. And one of the things he said at this black church was, when Jesus healed the sick, he didn't ask for a deductible. And he said, when he fed the hungry, he didn't try to get a profit. When the Hebrew prophets saw corruption, they spoke truth to power.

And so he said, when I take on this corrupt system, I'm doing it on biblical grounds. Right? And then of course, you have a pastor of literally the MLK church, Raphael Warnock, a sitting senator in Georgia. And I'm curious if you think the reason why Democrats might be doing better in red areas this time around is because there are more of them that are willing to lean in on their faith.