Former Republican governor and current MSNBC host Michael Steele on Sunday declared his affinity for “the resistance” when speaking to Democrat and “Squad” member Rep. Pramila Jayapal, before saying a few minutes later that he is “still a Republican.”
On Sunday’s The Weekend from MSNBC, Steele and his co-hosts, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend spoke with Jayapal about her “Resistance Lab” project as well as recent town hall events where audience members seemed to reject the cuts to government being made by Elon Musk and DOGE that were integral to the winning 2024 campaign of President Donald Trump.
When Steele introduced the Washington state politician, former chair of the progressive caucus, Steel enthusiastically endorsed the concept of mobilizing “the resistance” into action.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Steel enthused. “Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington joins us now. Bring that resistance, Congresswoman! Let’s talk. C’mon.”
Jaypal and the hosts spoke at length about spending cuts, programs like Social Security and Medicare, and the “cruelty” of America.
“When did America become so cruel?” Jayapal asked at one point. “I think what we’re seeing now is people worry that the rate of destruction of these agencies and the way it’s being done is devastating not only people but our entire ability to function as a country. And so – incompetence, cruelty, the stealing.”
Eventually, Jaypal said that the goal of the Trump administration and DOGE, Musk et al is “power to be able to unilaterally slash and burn, so that a very tiny few group of people at the top are able to get even richer and richer and everybody else is down and literally destroyed in terms of their families.”
That’s when Steele jumped in to say to Jayapal that the two of them, “in any other universe, probably on Earth 2, 3, and 4, would disagree a lot on a lot of big policy issues.” It’s something Steele says frequently on the show but on which, as in this case, he doesn’t usually elaborate.
Sanders-Townsend added, “he is still a Republican, congresswoman” and Steele repeated the claim.
“I’m still a Republican, he said, adding:
But here’s where you and I are aligned, and I think it’s important for America to know what this moment requires from each of us. This idea that we have in front of us a threat, a direct threat to our liberties, to our sense and appreciation of freedom, and more importantly the fundamental constitutional idea that every one of us, you and me, despite our policy disagreements are still Americans.
He then doubled down on embracing the “resistance” against the party he said he is still a member of.
This isn’t resistance because, “I don’t like it, I don’t like what you stand on health care or resistance because i don’t like where you stand or taxes.’ This is resistance because we don’t like what Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth are doing to our country.
Toward the end of the long segment, Jaypal said that Republican policies are “exactly how democracies fall” as Steele said “mm-hmm.”
“And that is why we’re doing this resistance lab,” Jayapal said. “And tomorrow we’ll have, I think it’s now over 1,800 people plus over 120 groups that are going to be zoomed in for this training on how you resist and what are the most effective tactics to resist dictators trying to take over democracies.”
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
The post ‘That’s What I’m Talking About!’ MSNBC’s Michael Steele Claims He’s ‘Still a Republican’ — While Cheering to Squad Member ‘Bring That Resistance!’ first appeared on Mediaite.
