Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Steele referred to former President Trump as a “visceral animal” for sharing a video showing President Biden tied up in the back of a truck and for making several critical remarks about judges overseeing his legal cases.
Steele, who works as a political analyst for MSNBC, stated on Saturday that the notion of thinking before speaking is beyond Donald Trump’s level, or so he believes, because Trump is a visceral animal in politics and business.
He has the conviction that what he says is the truth, and I believe that's part of the issue in this environment, that he genuinely believes in what he’s saying,” Steele added.
On Friday, Trump posted shared a video on his Truth Social platform featuring a truck with a printed picture on the truck bed, which seemed to depict Biden lying sideways and tied up.
Recently, Trump also made critical posts about the judges handling his legal cases, particularly his hush money trial. Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter have been the latest subjects of the former president's criticism. Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, restricting his public comments about the hush money case, but the order does not apply to Merchan and his daughter.
Steele believes that the courts are trying to treat Trump the same way they would treat anyone else.
“But [Trump] has demonstrated his lack of concern about that,” Steele noted. “So it continues to amaze me how much the system accommodates him.”
Steele questioned Merchan’s judgment in excluding himself from the order, asking how many times Trump needed to demonstrate that he is acting improperly before reaching this point.
“I don’t understand it at all. I am perplexed by how the system still does not react to what is in front of it,” Steele remarked.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, defended Trump’s post in an emailed statement.
“That image was on the back of a pickup truck traveling down the highway. Democrats and extreme individuals have not only called for abhorrent violence against President Trump and his family, they are also using the justice system against him,” Cheung stated in the email.
Biden’s campaign communications director Michael Tyler argued that this kind of post is typical for Trump.
“This image from Donald Trump is the type of stuff you post when you are calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the proud boys to ‘stand back and stand by,’” Tyler declared in an emailed statement. “Trump regularly encourages political violence, and it’s time for people to take him seriously – just ask the Capitol Police officers who were assaulted while defending our democracy on January 6.”
Tara Suter provided additional reporting.
