Greg Steube: We Need ‘Change in Messaging and Leadership That Stops Treating Conservatives as an Afterthought’
Republicans need a drastic “change in messaging and leadership that stops treating conservatives as an afterthought,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who called on GOP leadership to step down and launched his bid for House Republican Conference chair, said in the aftermath of the midterm election.
Steube has been critical of fellow Republicans and laid out his position following Democrat victories nationwide, resulting in the monumental loss of the House and Senate for Republicans. He called out GOP leaders for being “embarrassingly weak” and being “more afraid of governing conservatively than of disappointing the voters who put us in office.”
“Instead of standing firm on our principles, you have governed out of fear, continually knelt to the moderates in our conference (who all got crushed last night anyway), and discarded conservatives like me who warned of last night’s results,” he said, contending that they should step aside, and making the case that Republicans did not lose because they are too conservative. Simply, the base is sick of Republicans failing to do what they say they will do and bowing to moderates.
“You cannot shut conservatives out, build your entire message around a handful of moderates, and then wonder why your base didn’t show up. We need a change in messaging and leadership that stops treating conservatives as an afterthought,” he said in a social media post, sharing a recent appearance on Newsmax.
“We’ve got to focus on circumspect and why did we lose? And I kind of laid out why we lost. So now it’s refocusing the party on the things that the base of the party supports. What are the main points that Republicans across the country, and independents for that matter, because we are a center-right country, what are they supporting, and then what are we going to message on, and the conference chair’s role is that,” Steube pointed out.
“The current conference chair has been there for two years, and we lost more seats than almost any time in history. We need a change in messaging. We need a change in how we do it, and the entire conference needs to be a part of that conversation. Conservatives as well,” he said, warning, “We can’t placate to a handful of moderates in our conference and think that the American people are going to be with us because we’re trying to protect just a few people in swing districts.”
“Republicans didn’t lose because we were too conservative,” he said in his announcement. “We lost because we failed to deliver on the conservative policies we promised.”
