Former RNC Chair Michael Steele interacts with journalists at the 2011 National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Philadelphia (Photo Credit: Regal Media Group/Todd A. Smith).
Many Black Democrats often criticize other Black Americans who align with the Republican Party.
The current political landscape is not the past political landscape.
Back in the day, people like former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele could be conservative and still connect with communities of color.
Via his role on the political news talk show “The Weekend” on MS Now (formerly MSNBC), Steele makes many people wish for those days to return.
He still stays true to his political ideologies.
But he cares more about his country than political parties, constantly speaking up for democracy and against the actions of President Donald Trump, which many people see as very unpresidential and inhumane.
For his patriotism and outspokenness, RegalMag.com awards Steele with the title of 2025 Regal King of the Year, an honor that goes to a Black man making a difference in the community, the country and around the world.
Salute, king!
In somewhat of a new age in which it has now become more acceptable for the GOP to criticize President Trump and buck his authoritarian desires, brothers like Steele have been true to it, not new to it.
Steele has criticized Trump for an alleged lack of morality.
He has accused the president of being racist and divisive, further fracturing an already polarized country.
Additionally, Steele has criticized the 45th and 47th president of the United States for disrespecting the military.
But Steele has earned praise from Americans of various political ideologies because he has not spared Democrats in his critique on the direction of the country, which many see veering towards a dictatorship and not a democracy.
In February 2025 when Symone Sanders-Townsend of “The Weekend,” and former advisor to former Vice President Kamala Harris asked Steele what he wanted them to do, the former RNC chair pleaded with people to do something.
Steele said, “I would like you to show that you give a damn. That you got a little emotion about the fact that people are losing their jobs indiscriminately.”
He made that comment after Trump gave billionaire supporter Elon Musk absolute authority on what government employees to fire and what departments to shutter in what they called an attempt to cut wasteful government spending via the now defunct DOGE department.
The former RNC chair added, “So, I’d like to see somebody wake the hell up and get excited about the fact that your country is under assault. They’re not at the gate anymore, they’re in your bedrooms, they’re in your living rooms, they’re in your businesses, they got your data, dumbass, they got all your stuff.”
Steele’s criticism of Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has resonated with many MS Now viewers because of how he says what he says.
He does not always try to be politically correct with his political point-of-view.
He gives it to Americans raw and uncut.
Trump has done the same throughout his political career and that is why his MAGA movement has maintained momentum over such a long period of time.
Many Americans have wanted a fighter, and not a politician who does things in the same old way.
Voters have often said that many politicians did not understand their struggles.
Therefore, much of what they fought for did not often benefit average Americans.
But in Trump, many of his supporters and past supporters viewed him as someone who would take it to the political elites and drain the-so called swamp in Washington, D.C.
However, many Republicans now view Trump in a negative light.
In fact, many always did.
However, many did not have the courage to speak out because doing so might have ruined their political career.
Republicans like Steele, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), never seemed to care.
They seemed to care only about the betterment of the country.
The attorney, political commentator and former lieutenant governor of Maryland is also a board member of the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The website for the Bipartisan Policy Center states, “Steele made history when he became the first African-American to be elected to statewide office in Maryland, where he served as lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007, and [then] he was chosen to be the first African-American chairperson of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
“As chairman of the RNC, Steele was charged with revitalizing the Republican Party. Under his leadership the RNC broke fundraising records, with more than $198 million raised during the 2010 congressional cycle, and Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938…
“As lieutenant governor of Maryland, Steele’s priorities included improving the quality of Maryland’s public education system (he championed the state’s charter school law); expanding economic development in the state; reforming the state’s Minority Business Enterprise program; and fostering cooperation between government and faith-based organizations to help those in need.”
And for America to truly be great again, the country needs regal kings who can inspire cooperation from both sides of the political aisle, and everything in between.
Many say that Trump wants to be a king.
But a true king is a servant leader.
And a servant leader puts others before themselves.
That is something that Steele has done, even if it puts him at odds of the political party he once helped lead.
