Posted on 04/05/2010 6:06:14 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Steele: Criticism motivated by race By Jordan Fabian - 04/05/10 07:59 AM ET
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Monday brushed aside recent calls for him to resign, saying that harsh criticism from his opponents is motivated by race.
In his first interview since it was revealed that the RNC reimbursed young donors for a nearly $2,000 party at a bondage-themed nightclub in Los Angeles, Steele said that black political leaders, such as President Barack Obama and him, are held to an unfair higher standard.
"The honest answer is, 'yes,'" he said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It's a different role for me to play and others to play and that's just the reality of it. But you just take that as a part of the nature of it.
"My view on politics is much more grassroots oriented ... so I tend to, you know, come at it a little bit stronger, a little bit more street-wise. That's rubbed some feathers the wrong way."
Steele has faced pressure to resign from inside his own party since the nightclub incident, which revealed other examples of lavish spending at the RNC. The committee has spent tens of thousands on private jet travel, limousines and fancy hotels.
The chairman made similar comments in February, when he said his critics were motivated by race.
Some high-profile donors have decided to refrain from giving money to the RNC because of the spending.
Many Republicans, especially Congressional leaders, have been dissatisfied with Steele's penchant to speak out frequently because he has also made many gaffes. In an interview several months ago, Steele predicted that Republicans would not take back the House in the fall after GOP leaders in Congress expressed confidence they would.
The RNC has pushed back, saying that the Democratic National Committee has authorized similar expenditures. The RNC also fired the individual who authorized the nightclub reimbursement, saying that Steele did not know of or approve it.
Steele went further Monday, defending his record as chairman, a tenure in which he has raised $96 million for the party and seen recent electoral victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, all of which Obama won in 2008.
He said that the spending issue have been blown up "larger than it needs to be," adding "At the end of the day, I've raised more money than the Democrats, same amount of money as DNC in 2010," he said. "The bottom line is, I hear my donors, I hear our base out there, I hear the leadership. We're taking steps to make sure we're even more... fiscally conservative and to make sure the dollars are there" when it comes to running campaigns."
I predicted this, and it’s the trap the GOP laid for itself when it chose Steele for the job.
Until now, I was willing to give Steele the benefit of the doubt. Nothing angers me more than the race card. Steele must go!
Am I reading this right? Head of the RNC is now calling us racists? LOL!
We don’t need this $hit in November.
Please read the post folks. I can’t find anything here except for The Hill trying to once again sow lies and discord.
No your not reading it right.
The clueless GOP didn’t realize that you don’t hire potential racial lawsuits.
The only reason he was hired was because he was their token black to PC balance diversity and fairness in their ranks.
Didn’t help you...did it?
Oh, give it up!
Enhanced or suppressed melanin content is not the “root cause of criticism of or opposition to tyranny.
Just so everyone’s clear, Steele is accusing Republicans of racism, and labeling Republicans as his opponents.
Fire him, RNC Directors. Fire him now.
God help us.
*sigh*
This should be the last straw...but somehow I doubt it will be. Steele needs to go because he is the worst chairman the GOP has ever had..it has nothing to do with his race.
Any time you hear an African American start throwing the ‘race’ card at people, you know that they do not have black people’s interests at heart, but solely their own PERSONAL SELFISH MOTIVES at heart.
The Republican party can use the money, the lesbians are politically homeless, that nightclub is one of the cheaper ones in Hollywood, and none of this had anything to do with the fashioning of party ideology or positions to take on public policies.
We have too many Conservatives jumping on this issue who are taking the Leftwingtard position. Maybe it's time to trim the trolls. At a minimum orthodox Conservatives should be prepared to initially REJECT anything the WarshPost has to say about Republican or Conservative politics. To date the WarshPost has never been known to tell the truth about such matters. Their columnists continue to lie about the Tea Party on the Hill related to the Obamakkkare vote.
Yeah, I can’t find anything either.
Steele just called the GOP “racists”.
Saw the best tagline the other day:
“You’re just calling me a racist because I’m white.”
Spot on!
In-clonking-credible. Out with this guy. I don't care if he's beige-pink. Out.
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