'Toxic as hell': Ex-RNC chair warns Republicans are falling into an election 'trap'

Democrats have been triumphing and overperforming in special elections around the country, including in places they have no business being competitive — and it partly speaks to how badly Republicans are letting themselves be outplayed, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said on Wednesday's edition of MS NOW's "The Weeknight."

"The race to fill former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat in Georgia is headed to a runoff," said anchor Alicia Menendez. "Shawn Harris, a Democrat and retired U.S. Army officer, and Clayton Fuller, a Trump-backed Republican, will face off on April 7th after edging out the competition in Tuesday's crowded primary. And in New Hampshire, there was a stunning upset last night, Democrat Bobbi Boudman flipped a Republican-held state house seat in a district — get this — that Trump won by 9 points back in 2024."

"A lot, a lot of movement on the planet. I love it," said Steele, a longtime critic of MAGA-era Republicans. "I mean, look, this is the political landscape that we've been talking about, and how it's going to shift has been shifting for over a year now."

"Democrats have been winning special elections for well over a year since Trump came back into office," said Steele. "And even before that, during the Biden era, there were successes. And it speaks to me as someone who's built these, the infrastructure, the lattice for folks to climb up in these campaigns, that the Republican Party has failed to do the work. They have fallen into the trap of either sticking with incumbents that are toxic as hell, and voters just don't like, or knocking out of races, incumbents or candidates who potentially could hold the seat or gain the seat for them. And Democrats have been very smart in taking advantage of that."

Steele turned to his co-host, Symone Sanders-Townsend.

"I think ... for a lot of the reasons you and I sit back in the room and sort of look at and go, what the hell are these people doing, the Democrats are — they're landing the punches they need to land and the races they need to land," he said. "And it's all the momentum, all that momentum America builds up to November, which is why I say it's important, given that we know this administration wants to stop the elections this November. You overwhelm the ballot with your vote because at the end of the day, our Constitution is built for that. And Democrats are showing they're ready to do it."

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