Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele confronted CPAC head Matt Schlapp on Saturday over an employee’s suggestion the previous evening that it was a mistake to give Steele a prominent role in the GOP because he was black.
“We elected Mike Steele as chairman because he was a black guy. That was the wrong thing to do,” Ian Walters, an employee of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual CPAC gathering, told attendees of a dinner Friday night.
A visibly upset Steele slammed Schlapp on Saturday for dismissing the remark and not taking further action.
“Those words that tumbled out of [Ian’s] mouth, I believed were unfortunate words,” Schlapp told Steele during a discussion on the SiriusXM program “Steele & Ungar.”
“It’s not ‘unfortunate,'” Steele shot back. “It is stupid to sit there and say that we elected a black man chairman of the party, and that was a mistake. Do you know how that sounds to the black community?”
Schlapp said he understood the negative impact Walters’ comment could have on both black Americans and voters in general.
“I’ve spent 41 years in this party,” Steele continued. “And for him to stand on that stage and denigrate my service to this party, and for you as a friend to sit there and go, ‘Well, you have been critical of this party …’ There is only one word I can say, and I can’t say it on this air.”
Before the heated exchange ended, Schlapp encouraged Steele not to interpret Walters’ comment as a deliberate attempt to insult the former GOP chief.
“Don’t always jump to the conclusion that just because people use inarticulate words, that they have it in for you,” he said.
