Speaking with MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin on Tuesday morning, the former head of the Republican National Committee said it doesn't matter how much money Donald Trump's re-election campaign has in the bank because the embattled president is "hemorrhaging votes."
According to Michael Steele, who has become disenchanted with the Republican party under the president, the campaign's money and expertise on social media is no longer a bulwark against possible defeat.
To set the stage, host Mohyeldin remarked, "New polling coming out in critical states including Michigan, where Biden is leading Trump by 16 points -- that is according to the Detroit Free Press. Over in Iowa, Trump leads Biden by one point in a new Des Moines Register poll. Keep in mind, that Trump in that state, carried it by 9 percentage points back in 2016. Michael, what does that tell you if anything at this stage of the race?"
"It tells you what stage of the race you're in, where you're in June, so polls, you know, look like that," Steele replied. "But it also tells you something more important for an incumbent in office, and that is you may have all the money, and you may have all the tech, but if you don't have the votes, you don't win."
"I think that's the critical thing for the Trump campaign right now, "he continued. "They're hemorrhaging votes, they raised $14 million on his birthday, but are still hemorrhaging votes. You may have a quarter of a billion, half a billion dollars in the bank, but you're down by 16 in a battleground state."
"So they now have to figure out, which has been storylines over the last week, Ayman, about how they stop the hemorrhaging, they pull back independent voters, they especially pulled back evangelicals and other base supporters who have dropped off in their support because of COVID-19, the economy, and, of course, the social unrest," he added.
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