Former RNC Chair Calls Out Republicans for ‘Civil War’ Rhetoric: ‘You’re Going to Stand Up for That?’

A former chair of the Republican National Committee has strongly criticized Republicans for their continued defense of President Donald Trump. Michael Steele singled out ‘civil war’ rhetoric for particular scorn, saying Republicans had to draw the line somewhere.

Morning Joe‘s Mika Brzezinski asked Steele what he could say to Republicans to change their minds about defeding Trump as impeachment unfolds.

“Well, I don’t know if there’s anything that I could say or any of us could say at this point that hasn’t already been said,” Steel said. “But I will ask this. Is it worth it? Is it really worth it? Is the value of democracy, the rule of law, the very ideal and principles that you’ve espoused for your entire political career, that you ran on as a freshman congressman or a two-term senator, as a leader both in the party and the country, is it worth it?”

“Is this one man worth all that you are sacrificing right now?” Steele asked.

“And then the second part of that would be, where are you going to draw the line? If you didn’t draw it at Charlottesville, if you didn’t draw it at Baltimore, if you didn’t draw it at locking kids up in cages, if you didn’t draw it at, you know, a Muslim ban, where are you going to draw the line?”

“Because that, as an American, not as a Republican, not as a partisan, as an American I want to know from my leaders where you draw the line. I know where I’ve drawn it and I know where countless of Americans have drawn it. But where have you drawn it? And if you haven’t drawn it, please let us know when you do. I bet you it’ll be too late, though. And that’s the problem.”

“These guys are so afraid of this one man that they’re willing to sacrifice everything that they’ve stood on. The other thing, all this talk over the weekend about a civil war around Donald Trump? And I’ll ask, are you really prepared to sit down with your constituents and support a, quote, civil war because Donald Trump is in political trouble because of his own problems, what he’s done? You’re going to stand up for that?”

“So draw me the line and let me know where it is, make it bright and red so the rest of us will know as well, and then we’ll understand exactly who you are and what kind of party you represent.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.