Former RNC Leader Predicts Grim Future for Republican Party

(ConservativeSense.com) – Former President Donald Trump formally tossed his hat in the ring for the Republican nomination for the 2024 Presidential ticket on November 15, despite requests and suggestions that he wait until after the December 6 Senate run-off election in Georgia. Now, former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele has openly predicted a grim future for the party in the wake of poor performances in the 2022 midterm elections.

Maintaining the Old Guard

During an interview with Symone Sanders on MSNBC’s “Symone” on Saturday, December 3, Steele expressed a pessimistic outlook for the success of GOP leadership. He said Republicans Liz Cheney (R-WY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and himself were fighting to maintain their positions within the party and hold true to the tenets of Lincoln and Reagan to build into the future.

.@MichaelSteele explains his lack of hope for this generation of the Republican Party.

“We’re fighting to hold the ground that we have the best we can…but with this leadership that’s feckless and committed to Trump and with Trump himself [laughs].” pic.twitter.com/8omE5tY2ze

— SYMONE (@symonemsnbc) December 3, 2022

In another MSNBC interview on November 30, Steele said they’ve found themselves opposed to Trump-led Republican leadership, which he called “feckless and committed to Trump.” He argued it would be difficult for the GOP to move on from the cult of personality. Steele isn’t alone in his prediction.

https://youtu.be/R_Y9MRtwRvU?t=398

Former Trump Ally Becomes Critic

In an op-ed for Common Sense, reprinted in the New York Post on the same day, Monday, November 21, Former Attorney General Bill Barr wrote about the GOP’s opportunity to capitalize on the Democrats’ leftward political movement to create a broad coalition reminiscent of the one former President Ronald Reagan forged, including college-educated suburbanites, blue-collar workers, and even anti-authoritarian liberals. Yet, the leadership qualities required to produce lasting results and win elections must include strategy, discipline, depth, and introspection — traits Barr doesn’t believe Trump can summon.

Additionally, Barr charges that Trump will extort the party into nominating him based on the threat that if it doesn’t, the former president will lead all his followers, about a quarter of the party, out of the GOP, breaking the party and all but assuring a Democratic win. Barr equates it to burning down the house.

Follow the Money?

Barr and Steele aren’t the only ones abandoning Trump, however; GOP mega-donors are also cutting ties. So far, he’s lost the support of Stephen Schwarzman of The Blackstone Group, Ken Grifin of Citadel, Ronald Lauder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics company, and Andy Sabin of the Sabin Metal Corp. Sabin specifically blames the former president for ruining the GOP’s chances of winning the Senate and gaining a decisive margin in the House. All four men seem to believe it’s time to move on to new leadership.

As other Republicans forsake Trump, including Governor Kristi Noem (SD), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Vice President Mike Pence, and his support wanes, many question how the ex-POTUS might react in the face of losing the GOP nomination. Is there an impending civil war within the party, or have the battles already begun?