Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee, fired off a warning to Republican lawmakers supporting President Donald Trump’s Russia agenda.
On Wednesday, GOP senators blocked a move to maintain sanctions against companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Steele said on MSNBC that the lawmakers were “circling the wagons” to help Trump.
Host Ari Melber called it “potentially collusion-y.”
Steele quickly corrected him.
“It’s all collusion,” he said:
“It’s all collusion because in my estimation, if you’re taking these steps given the information, the facts, as we now see them being laid out and you’re going to slow the roll, legislatively, then you’re now a part of this narrative just as much as anybody else is as far as I’m concerned. Particularly when these guys have the evidence. They have more information than you do sitting here, and you’ve got a lot.”
Steele added that to some Republican lawmakers, “the most important thing is to give cover to this president.”
In a separate segment about the government shutdown, above, Steele also said Trump has “met his match” in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after she asked to postpone the State of the Union address because of the shutdown.
“He doesn’t know what to do with this woman. He has no idea,” Steele said. “That’s why he’s sitting in the White House frustrated, because she’s not biting on the kernels of crazy he’s putting out there.”
Watch his full comments in the video above.