Former RNC Chair: Trump’s Message Is ‘Weakening’ with His Own Base

Former chair of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele has suggested that President Donald Trump’s message is becoming less effective with his own support base. Steele told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday that America’s problems were eating in to Trump’s popularity.

Steele discussed Trump’s recent inflammatory speech at Mt. Rushmore and how his rhetoric is being received with co-host Willie Geist.

“It’s us against them at this point and the reality that the Trump campaign is facing is the ‘Us,’ which is the base support that you referred to, a lot of the Republicans on Capitol Hill that have sort of curried the President’s favor in a number of areas, that is actually weakening some,” Steele said.

“The numbers are showing, both internal and external polling, is showing that that hard 95, 96% of the Republican base that’s behind the President is now down around 84, 85%. There’s been slippage. There has been some weakening of the reception of that message because, guess what, that base is also now impacted by Covid-19 as we see across the country in those red states.”

“And the President also is feeling the impact. His base is feeling the impact of the economy, which is not recovering at the pace — even though the great jobs numbers last week are good to see, the reality of it is businesses are opening, but the people aren’t going out and shopping. They’re not gathering to spend money the way they were a year ago.”

“And then on top of that, Willie, the social unrest right now, the civic unrest, which is a good thing. This is a good, healthy conversation the country is just beginning to have. You would think that would be something the President would step into, but that’s not what his base wants to hear, that’s not what they want to talk about, so he’s doubling down on those things that have motivated their anger, their frustration, and that us he talks about in his Mt. Rushmore speech, folks are scratching their heads and going what do you mean by us?”

“Aren’t us all of us? No, to Jonathan [Lemire]’s point. It’s those people who feel are losing are grip he’s given them on some of these visceral issues and he wants to get that back.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.