Apr 5, 2010 7:35am
RNC Chair Says He Will Not Step Down
Email
In an exclusive interview with embattled RNC chairman Michael Steele this morning I asked him if he had plans to step aside after RNC funds were used at a Los Angeles strip club.
“No,” was his simple answer saying that his critics have been calling for him to step down, “since the day I got the job.”
“The reality of it is when I first heard about this behavior going on, I was very angry and we dealt with it,” he added.
He also suggested that his race is an issue, “The honest answer is yes, it just is. Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It means a different role for me to play and others to play."
Watch the entire interview here:
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I don’t think he should necessarily step down, but to pull the race card to mask incompetence is sleazy. Well that seems to be par for the course these days.
Posted by: Tom Criswell | April 5, 2010, 8:47 am 8:47 am
Very disappointing to hear him play the race card.
Why is it, when the going gets tough, and the scrutiny more severe, that they feel compelled to play the race card?
So NOT, real.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | April 5, 2010, 10:01 am 10:01 am
Racism isn’t Steele’s problem. No matter what color he is, his main problem is that he is a smug, self-absorbed, incompetent gasbag.
Posted by: Bo | April 5, 2010, 11:09 am 11:09 am
It was pretty transparent that the reason the RNC chose Steele was to counter Obama’s skin color. Now, after getting the position based on his skin, he wants to talk about the difficulties it creates? Get over yourself. Your color got you this job. Only you will lose it.
Posted by: Hmmm | April 5, 2010, 11:18 am 11:18 am
He is being stubborn for now to save face. He cannot continue as chairperson of the RNC without the mandate and support of the party members. Mr. Steele is history. Time for that cockiness is over
Posted by: what667 | April 5, 2010, 12:44 pm 12:44 pm
I’m wondering if it’s as much the race card he’s playing or using President Obama to help him get out of a messy situation?
Posted by: danny | April 5, 2010, 1:04 pm 1:04 pm
Is Mr. Steele for or against Barrak Obama? Besides, using the term, “good ole boys,” seems to me a code word for “racists.”
Posted by: what667 | April 5, 2010, 1:24 pm 1:24 pm
The republican party has been post racial for 150 years so hearing Michael Steele play the race card is automatically grounds for his dismissal IMO. But I wanted him gone before that and the strip club snafu because he is NOT a fighter and that is who we need; someone to LEAD us in battle against the progressives before they destroy our country.
Posted by: Mike M | April 5, 2010, 2:42 pm 2:42 pm
Actually, he should stay. He’s making the democrats look real good!
Posted by: Tracey | April 5, 2010, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
The Domocrates are toast in November With or without Steele. Not a issue, sorry Snuffaluppagous.
Posted by: JohnnyB | April 5, 2010, 9:46 pm 9:46 pm
Michael Steele is a Black Racist. The Republicans picked him to put black against black they have been doing it for years and will continue to as long as some blacks allow themselves to be used. Mr. Steele is against President Obama just all the Republicans.
Posted by: Cheryl N. | April 5, 2010, 11:09 pm 11:09 pm
Complaining about racism is grounds for dismissal? Hilarious – the kind of logic that can only come from a Republican. Mention race and out come the Thought Police, screaming “Race card!” Refusing to talk about race does not make a party “post-racial.”
Posted by: Adrian | April 8, 2010, 9:43 am 9:43 am
Mr. Steele is a closet R.I.N.O. and he knows it. He reminds me of the sleezy back room hustler. A poster boy in the spot light and a back room hustler back stage. He reprimanded the hierarchy of the Catholic Church on abortion but he threw the babies under the public transportation when political correctness was at stake.
When questioned about some imaginary margin of error that was implied by George Stephanopoulos to Mr. Steele, Mr. Steele switched gears from confident, above reproach, RNC leader to the hurt, trampled, victimized because of his color. OOOHHHH would someone please inform him and Barack Obama that your color of skin is not an excuse for the views you hold, or the lifestyle you live, or the way someone else views you.
Mr. Steele must change occupations and go to counseling for his self-victimized self-image, and his disreguard for the unborn Americans.
Posted by: Joseph David | April 20, 2010, 11:02 am 11:02 am
Michael Steele is a republican, and it is true that he was put in his present position to counter the diversity of the democrats. And, it is also true that it is not the first time that republicans have employed that tactic. The quick embrace of the “brown” Jindal, until it was realized that he was incapable of competing with Obama. The selection of Sarah Palin as candidate for vice president, after the defeat of Hillary Clinton by Obama, is another example. It appears to be the republicans who play the “race card”, although, as yet, not very successfully.
Posted by: alfieonline | April 26, 2010, 9:31 am 9:31 am
He should continue in this position indefinitely! It’s reality TV in its truest form. Wonderfully entertaining.
Posted by: Josephine | May 9, 2010, 8:01 pm 8:01 pm