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There are some conversations that feel less like interviews and more like therapy. That’s what this episode was for me.
Michael Steele—former RNC Chair, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and my big brother in politics—joined me At Our Table for a conversation that spanned everything from childhood summers in South Carolina to the moral rot inside today’s GOP.
We started with faith.
“God gave us 10 commandments in the Old Testament and we can’t do those 10 things… Jesus, his son comes along and gives us the New Testament. He says, okay, let me simplify this for you… Love each other.”
It’s simple, but not easy. And that’s the point Michael kept coming back to—doing the hard thing, not the performative one. Especially in politics.
He didn’t grow up dreaming of being an elected official. But when the opportunity came, he didn’t shy away from making waves.
“I don’t play well, and I never have played well with others in politics because politics is supposed to be disruptive, not what Donald Trump is doing—that’s destruction… Now that the accident has happened, meaning I’m involved, why don’t we disrupt it? Why don’t we change the way we do the game?”
That desire to shake up the system—and stay grounded in purpose—is what drew Michael to the GOP in the first place. Not to the cult it’s become, but to the idea it once claimed to uphold.
“My mother said to me, well, look, don’t become a Democrat because we’re Democrats… Go on and figure it out for yourself. So I did… What struck me about Reagan was how he talked about the country… There were times where the things he said sounded like stuff my mother said to me.”
That upbringing shaped everything about him, including how he navigates contradiction—being a Black man in a party that’s tried to erase people like him, being a disruptor inside a system built to maintain the status quo.
“I’m still a Republican because I was here first… I don’t know who the hell all these other people are… I aligned myself to the idea on which the party was founded—freedom, liberties, and the inalienable rights of every person.”
And yet, he doesn’t hold back when calling out what the party has become.
“What the Republican Party is now is a cult of Donald Trump… the worst infection any political party has ever experienced… good men and women of conscience have made a conscious choice not to inoculate themselves against this infection.”
Michael doesn’t spare the other cowards either—the ones who stood by as millions died unnecessarily during COVID.
“My party is the party that told America don’t wear a mask and a million people died because they listened to stupid people… I’m not going to say that I am less free because I put a mask on during an epidemic.”
That’s what makes Michael so powerful—he’s not afraid to name names, take heat, and still show up for the fight. Even when it means being the last one left standing on principle.
We laughed, too. Swapped stories about McConnell dodging Boehner’s cigarette smoke. Talked about being party chairs and the loneliness that comes with it. But more than anything, we talked about what’s worth saving in our democracy—and who’s willing to do the hard work.
In the end of the day, I think everybody just wants to be seen, heard, and valued.
That’s what we’re building here At Our Table.
Invite your friends and earn rewards
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