Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC on August 21, 2025

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele didn't mince words when criticizing the GOP's push to redraw congressional maps ahead of next year's midterm elections.

During the Thursday episode of his MSNBC show "The Weeknight," Steele — who served as lieutenant governor of Maryland before leading the RNC — tore into Texas Republicans for ramming through new maps aimed at giving the GOP another five seats in Congress. Steele made his comments shortly after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the Golden State's new redistricting plan, which would put a Democratic-friendly map up to the state's voters this November to go into effect in 2026.

"I look at this. moment and on one level, you go, why are we here? I mean, why are we doing this? And it's because of the actions of the current president of the United States," Steele said, referencing President Donald Trump telling Texas to use a special session dedicated to flood relief for a mid-decade redistricting push.

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"[Trump is] playing by only one set of rules, and that is his own rules," he continued. "And so it is incumbent on the states, the governors of states now to figure out, okay, do we play along with these rules that are anti-democratic?"

The former RNC chair and other guests on his panel went on to observe that Democrats were now locked in a partisan "arms race" that will see both red and blue states scramble to redraw their maps as quickly as possible to best position themselves to win a majority in the House of Representatives next year. Steele went on to say that he was "offended by what my party is doing."

"I think my party's on the wrong side of history here. They're certainly on the wrong side of the Constitution," he added, slamming the GOP's "craven lust for power."

Steele's monologue also followed a Wall Street Journal editorial that blasted both Trump and Democrats for the mid-decade redrawing of maps, lamenting that what was once a decennial process has now become a political "brawl" to come out ahead in the next election.

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