Michael Steele On Republican Gaffes: 'Lord Knows I'm Familiar With Foot-In-Mouth Disease'

RNC Chairman Michael Steele took a moment Sunday to commiserate with Tea Party-backed candidates who had recently misspoken in potentially damaging instances over the past couple weeks leading up to the midterm elections.

"Folks make mistakes," Steele said simply on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning when asked about statements by Sharron Angle, Ken Buck and Christine O'Donnell. "Lord knows I'm familiar with foot-in-mouth disease. I understand how that is sometimes. When you get in the heat of a battle, you've got the passion and the fire in your belly and you really wanna get out there and speak to the issues and speak to the people. You say things that don't come out correctly, you make missteps, you create misperceptions, and I think that happens a lot in campaigns."

Steele has indeed battled his foot with his mouth on more than a few occasions, but he -- as he predicted his party's candidates would do -- has managed to come out largely unscathed.

"What really matters is how the voters receive, how the voters look at those candidates, and despite those foible and those flaws, if you will, of the misspoken word, people understand where their heart is, people understand these folks are gonna go out there and fight for them," Steele said.

Steele also appeared to take a strong stance on the recent animosity that has been brewing between establishment Republicans and the latest swell of conservative energy coming from the Tea Party, calling the quiet subversion of certain candidates by some in the GOP "misplaced."

"For the establishment in Washington or anywhere else to sit back and sit in judgment of her abilities to be a senator, to be effective in the Senate, is misplaced," Steele said." All that matters it that the people have decided this is the standard-bearer we want."

WATCH:

Comments

[larmar]

11:01 AM on 10/26/2010

Has anyone else noticed that Michale Steel was dropped from the Foxx Noise narrative because of his gaff prone quirks?

[Q45]

12:42 AM on 10/26/2010

There is an article out about Steele when he ran for Lt. Governor telling how he contacted and paid homeless men from Philly to distribute bogus campaign literature for him and his running mate in the state of MD. The literature included pictures of Steele posing himself as a Democrat with other Democrats. He got caught. Twit is lower than a snake’s belly.

[Carolyn LeBeauf]

11:45 PM on 10/25/2010

Steele has been toasted in his job as RNC chairman. They been took the money from him. They sent him to Guam to get rid of him. On Nov 3 Steele will get his walking papers.

[denicci1977]

11:12 PM on 10/25/2010

Too many gaffes equals just plain stupidity.

[Deltalk]

09:12 PM on 10/25/2010

Governor Palin: Lisa's Gall vs. Miller's Honor

https://joemiller.us/goal/

[olivia]

09:17 PM on 10/25/2010

10 times in a row is spamming. Flagged.

[kenhamlett]

08:59 PM on 10/25/2010

I just commented on another article about how sad the loss of humor in regard to our election process has been. Then, I saw this article. I think Chairman Steele is toast in his job after the election, regardless of the outcome, and as a Democrat, I don't really care one way or another. But, he gets one point for having a sense of humor. I wish more of our politicians would develop one or regain the ones they lost!

[Deltalk]

08:49 PM on 10/25/2010

Stunning news to report today, fellow patriots. A brand new poll has Christine O'Donnell surging to within 6% of her Democrat challenger, Chris Coons.

This late-in-the-campaign surge replicates her surge in the polls in the GOP primary, when everyone had written her off and said she could never win.

She proved the so-called "experts" wrong before and she seems poised to do so again!

[GoDems2012]

08:55 PM on 10/25/2010

I notice your post is short on facts.

Which news report?

What brand new poll?

[olivia]

09:20 PM on 10/25/2010

Flagged for spamming over and over.

[Jdaddy1951]

08:36 PM on 10/25/2010

"'Folks make mistakes,' Steele said simply on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning ..."

Ah, but Teabagger Republicans do it so OFTEN and so WELL ...

[LMPE]

06:48 PM on 10/25/2010

Mike finally figures out that his speech is a joke.

When's he going to figure out that he got appointed to his position so that the GOP could pretend to be an inclusive party?

[oski the bear]

05:01 PM on 10/25/2010

Indeed, there is a similarity between Steele's, O'Donnell's, Angle's, Paladino's, et. al's gaffes. The nature of the gaffes displays their entrenched party-first, policy-maybe-later position. Does Michael Steele support or oppose what he characterized as Barack Obama's decision to invade Afghanistan? His gaffe may have simply been a lack of knowledge as to who was really President when we invaded, but it's really reflective of a GOP position to simply oppose all things Obama.

Likewise, O'Donnell's gaffe may have been not being able to name a single Democratic senator she could work with (neither Clinton nor Leibermann are Democratic Senators) or to name a recent Supreme Court decision she disagrees with, but it's really reflective of the fact that while she preaches an opposition to judicial activism, she has no problem with ultra-right judicial activism. She just can't find the words to express that. Nor can she articulate even a notion of compromise with the Democratic Party.

When Joe Biden makes a gaffe, it's goofy. It usually involves profanity, and God knows my fantasy of myself in elected office involves lots and lots of public profanity. When these righties gaffe, it's not goofy, it's frightening. Because their gaffe is a reflection of what we're headed for. A political landscape where the policies are a complete mystery to the new politicians. What's judicial activism? Darned if O'Donnell knows. What border crime carries over to Arizona? Darned if Jan Brewer knows. Should we be in Afghanistan? Steele doesn't know.

[hackerblaster]

04:41 PM on 10/25/2010

Could you only imagine how hard it must be to be on public television and have to say they think Christine O'Donnell has what it takes to be a senator? I would rather spread honey all over myself and run into a bear den.

[juzcuz]

04:23 PM on 10/25/2010

Steel-head and PalaMEANo would get along well as a couple - Steel-head got his horse & mouth dis-EASE from a palamino horse AND PalaMEANo likes doing it with horses.. or is this a menage a trois?? Neighhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Dougstyles]

07:00 PM on 10/25/2010

Can we please stop with the childish nicknames? I mean, PalaMEANo? Are you 12?

[Yikes11]

04:18 PM on 10/25/2010

*****yawn****

[ddemos]

04:04 PM on 10/25/2010

He's "familiar" w/ shoving his foot in his mouth? "Familiar" really?

That's is, no doubt, the most non-hyperbolic utterance this man has ever made...

[BligeTheVOTE]

03:59 PM on 10/25/2010

BETTING POOL
Hour after the polls close Nov 2nd, to Steele NOT being RNC chairman.
10 pm, 11pm, midnight, 1 am, 2 am

make your wagers.

[GoDems2012]

08:56 PM on 10/25/2010

I say two weeks. They won't want to appear racist.

*snort*