Michael Steele: 'We Could Have Used A Few More Brothers In The House.' (VIDEO)

Michael Steele: 'We Could Have Used A Few More Brothers In The House'

Days after losing his bid for a second term as RNC Chairman, Michael Steele reflected on his time as leader on Monday night.

In a special Martin Luther King Day edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Steele said, "What I tried to do [as chairman] was to broaden the landscape over which we could play, go into neighborhoods where we needed to be in, but hadn't been in generations, and I think it made a difference."

In another part of the segment, host Chris Matthews claimed he never saw a group of blacks together at Republican conventions and asked if blacks felt at home within the party. With a laugh Steele responded, "We could have used a few more brothers in the house, there's no doubt about that."

On whether House Republicans will cooperate with the president, Steele was optimistic: "I really believe they will run with him on certain issues."

But the former chairman also said the president must set the tone for a constructive relationship: "He doesn't have Nancy Pelosi in the House driving the agenda the way she did over the last two years. Now it's a different drumbeat. The real question is whether or not the president has the mind set to be the kind of leader that people are looking for."

Matthews ended the interview with an endorsement, "Michael Steele, sir. I would have voted for you."

Watch the interview here:

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