RNC Chair Claims Critics Motivated By His Race

Meredith Jessup | February 10, 2010 12:38 PM

In an interview with Washingtontonian magazine (no online version) published Tuesday, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele hinted people who have been critical of him may be motivated by his race.

The Hill reports:

"I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation," Steele said. "Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”

Wow. The gaffes never ends with this guy. Michael Steele has seriously disappointed a great many Republicans--including myself. His management style and his repeated gaffes have reflected negatively on his tenure as chairman and criticisms of these mistakes have had absolutely nothing to do with his race. For Steele to suggest that they did only negatively reflects on his own character as an individual, let alone his abilities as a competent leader.

Update: "It's not because of my race, but race is more of a factor than it ordinarily would be -- just as it is for Barack Obama," Steele said, clarifying his remarks in an interview with ABC News.

"Look, I've been in this political world for a long, long time. And it was no different when I ran for lieutenant governor, no different when I became state party chairman. There is a different way of looking at how, particularly as a Republican, how we approach issues, how we approach problems. The general mindset when you see, hear or read about an African American, you think, politically, Democrat. And all of a sudden, you've got this brother who's a Republican and you go, 'OK now, what does that look like and how does it manifest itself?' That's it. More curiosity than anything else. It's just one of the things you've got to live with."