Michael Steele to Joan Walsh: Your Condescending Attitude Is Why Trump’s Popular

mediaite.com ^ | Andrew Kirell

[RoosterRedux]

During a somewhat heated exchange on Thursday evening’s Hardball, MSNBC contributor and former RNC chairman Michael Steele told Salon editor-in-chief Joan Walsh that her condescending attitude towards possible Donald Trump supporters is the exact reason those supporters flock to the celebrity billionaire in the first place.

After reviewing a brief video of a middle-class voter focus group raving about a potential Trump presidency, Walsh said, “I look at those people and I feel sad. That is really such a low common denominator. They’re all Republicans, they’re not all going to vote for him.”

Asked by Chris Matthews to explain what she meant by “low common denominator,” Walsh elaborated, “They’re really, they really don’t have a firm grasp on reality, on what it’s going to take to solve the country’s problems.” She later exclaimed that she would be “fine” with Trump using her quotes to bash “elite” media.

“I’m not fine with it,” Steele shot back, in the clip first flagged by NewsBusters reporter Ken Shepherd. “You want to know why Trump is doing what Trump is doing and the way he’s doing it? It’s because of comments like that. Because of attitudes like that.”

[C. Edmund Wright]

Yep....I’m good with any testosterone sighting in the Republican Party, even those from unlikely sources.

[C. Edmund Wright]

you must engage the enemy.....

[Jean2]

Got me! I wish everyone else in the GOP would do the same.

[donna]

Who is Michael Steele:

“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment,” Steele told CNN. “Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly.” iReport.com: Limbaugh and Steele show divisions in GOP

Limbaugh fired back on his radio show Monday, saying the Republican chairman appears to be supporting President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said Steele appears “obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds.”

“I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda,” Limbaugh said. “I have to conclude that he does, because he attacks me for wanting it to fail.”

Source: CNN

[SpeakerToAnimals]

he’s popular for both reasons, but his refusal to accept the argument on the terms of the condescending is clearly a factor.

Spot on. IMHO this is the biggest reason.

[tophat9000]

Like in been saying..Trump has become the public middle finger to give to people like Joan Walsh

[sauropod]

I know! Where did he find that spine?

[sauropod]

I know! Where did he find that spine?

[JimRed]

That is really such a low common denominator. They’re all Republicans, they’re not all going to vote for him.”

Versus the least common denominator, the progressives' useful idiots, the low information voters?

[RoosterRedux]

I was a little shocked that this focus group, when asked for another candidate if Trump dropped out, all said “Ben Carson.”

I think they were essentially saying "we need any stinkin' politicians."

[miss marmelstein]

I’m not sure. As I said, some of them had a deer in the headlights look when asked. Then someone said Ben Carson and then they all chimed in. Two men, I believe, cited Cruz.

[RoosterRedux]

Since I posted to you, I have heard (not substantiated yet) that the woman who was on the far left end (with the tattoos) has come out saying that she is actually a Carson supporter, not a Trump supporter.

So I might have been wrong.;-)

[miss marmelstein]

No, you may be right. She may be the first person to name him, I don’t remember, of course.

[RoosterRedux]

This is what I meant to have said..."we DON'T need NO stinkin' politicians."

Sheesh. I'm glad it's Friday. I must need a long nap.

[miss marmelstein]

I got your reference, no need to apologize. Happy weekend!

[Parley Baer]

“Steele fighting back. That’s something new!”

I agree. I thought he joined the GOPe.

[RoosterRedux]

Happy weekend to you too, Miss M.