Michael Steele says Trump's VP pick a clear message to 'Republicans like me': 'I own this'

Former President Donald Trump is sending a very clear signal to the old guard of the Republican Party with the selection of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, former GOP chair Michael Steele told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday: you no longer control the party, and you will never control it again.

This comes as Republicans kick off the first day of their nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, formally handing the nomination to Trump.

"What is your reaction to the choice of J.D. Vance as Trump's running mate?" Maddow asked.

"You know, in one sense, it's a little surprising for me, Rachel, because of some of the other attendant politics around Trump in terms of the issues that he's going to have to battle on going forward," said Steele. In particular, he added, he thinks it would have been a "better political choice" to pick a woman for his running mate — yet potential picks like Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) did not even make his final shortlist.

Read also: 'JD Vance is not a leader': Trump V.P. hopeful under fire for 'reckless' shooting comments

That said, Steele added, "J.D., you know, when you stop and think about it ... does check a lot more boxes for Trump. In the sense that at the end of the day, when he says jump, he knows how high he will jump. When he says stop, he knows he will stop. When he says go, he knows he will go. And he did not get that with Burgum. He did not get that with Marco Rubio. Nor Tim Scott. Nor any of the others. Certainly not Nikki Haley."

"So it kind of makes sense in the end that Donald Trump found a younger extension of himself that would prosecute the case for MAGA," said Steele. "This is now — and I say this as a member of the Republican Party — this is now the MAGA party. So Republicans like me, we clearly have no room left here. And so I think that selection signals that transition, in a very profound way, for a lot of Republicans out there who will have to think long and hard, not just about, you know, this election but where they stand going forward, because Trump has made it very clear, I own this, you don't. And here's my progeny to make sure that this continues in the vein I want it to go."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Michael Steele analyzes J.D. Vance pick www.youtube.com