Michael Steele’s devolution from RNC chairman to being indistinguishable from any of his left-wing MS NOW colleagues was on full display again on Thursday as he filled in for former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on The Briefing. At one point, Steele welcomed failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to the show to accuse the GOP of wanting to bring back Jim Crow and naturally spread unfounded conspiracy theories about voter suppression.
Thursday also happened to be primary night in Tennessee, which, given the state’s redistricting efforts earlier in the year, led Steele to wonder, “I just want to, out of the box, just ask about Memphis specifically, where the Ninth Congressional District, the one that was a majority black district, was completely erased. There were tons of protests when that happened. And I think it was my impression, at least, that such an action could motivate Democrats, and not just Democrats, but independent and even some Republicans in that district to show up and vote today. Have you seen any evidence of that energy, either in Tennessee or in other states where Republicans have taken similar actions?”
Former RNC chief was interviewing Stacey Abrams while guest hosting Jen Psaki's show because of course he was and wondered "I just want to out of the box, just ask about Memphis specifically, where the Ninth Congressional District, the one that the majority that was a majority… pic.twitter.com/LLmf1nqHjV
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 7, 2026
Abrams replied that “we have seen that energy” while also claiming, “As you pointed out, they intended to dismantle black voting power because they intend to dismantle democracy. And I think it's so important that we recognize that while they target black voters for their animus, their intention is to dismantle democracy for all of us. They just start with the community they think is the easiest to attack.”
She also claimed “What we know is that it's taken them 61 years to get what they wanted, which is a return to Jim Crow, a return to a moment where the 15th Amendment didn't actually work for everyone in this country. But if it took them 60 years to dismantle it, we don't have 60 years to wait to rebuild it. And now is the time for us to believe that we not only have the power and the agency, we have the numbers.”
Abrams added, “And that's why they're so aggressively angry, because across Memphis, across Mississippi, across Louisiana and Tennessee and Texas and Georgia, communities of color are rising, uniting and voting. And the more we vote, the angrier they get, the more terrified they become. And that means it's working. And that means our power is real.”
Steele then lobbed another softball Abrams’s way, “So to that point, because of your travels in the spaces and places that you've been in, have you seen any evidence of voter suppression working during primaries in states that have redistricted, where, you know, there is that all-out effort? Sometimes it's masked, but at the end of the day, there's an all-out effort to make sure that certain voters don't find their way to the polls.”
Despite the softball nature of the question, Abrams still swung and missed. She had no evidence but insisted that is because the primary is just a trial run for November:
Well, we know that the way voter suppression works, there are three component pieces. Can you register and stay on the rolls? Can you cast a ballot? And does that ballot get counted? And so in a lot of these states, they are testing out the waters during primaries. So they can do the full show in November. And so, yes, in states across the south and across the country, we're seeing attempts to limit polling places. North Carolina, where they're removing polling stations from black college campuses. They are trying their best to test out the voter suppression mechanisms now.
For Steele and Abrams, “voter suppression” just means “my preferred candidate might lose” because for MS NOW, some election deniers are better than others.
Here is a transcript for the August 6 show:
MS NOW The Briefing with Jen Psaki
8/6/2026
9:26 PM ET
MICHAEL STEELE: I just want to, out of the box, just ask about Memphis specifically, where the Ninth Congressional District, the one that was a majority black district, was completely erased. There were tons of protests when that happened. And I think it was my impression, at least, that such an action could motivate Democrats, and not just Democrats, but independent and even some Republicans in that district to show up and vote today. Have you seen any evidence of that energy, either in Tennessee or in other states where Republicans have taken similar actions?
STACEY ABRAMS: First of all, thank you so much for having me, Michael. And yes, we have seen that energy. I was there, I testified in front of the Senate committee, a committee that convened and passed a map it had not yet drawn. The Senate minority leader, Raumesh Akbari, asked for a copy of the map, and they said, "well, we haven't drawn it yet, but we know what we're doing."
And as you pointed out, they intended to dismantle black voting power because they intend to dismantle democracy. And I think it's so important that we recognize that while they target black voters for their animus, their intention is to dismantle democracy for all of us. They just start with the community they think is the easiest to attack.
But what has always happened and what we saw happen that day, I testified that morning, but that evening I was in a church that was packed with more than 200 people who gathered to protest those maps, but also to start planning. What could they do in response?
And what we know is that it's taken them 61 years to get what they wanted, which is a return to Jim Crow, a return to a moment where the 15th Amendment didn't actually work for everyone in this country. But if it took them 60 years to dismantle it, we don't have 60 years to wait to rebuild it. And now is the time for us to believe that we not only have the power and the agency, we have the numbers.
And that's why they're so aggressively angry, because across Memphis, across Mississippi, across Louisiana and Tennessee and Texas and Georgia, communities of color are rising, uniting and voting. And the more we vote, the angrier they get, the more terrified they become. And that means it's working. And that means our power is real.
STEELE: So to that point, because of your travels in the spaces and places that you've been in, have you seen any evidence of voter suppression working during primaries in states that have redistricted, where, you know, there is that all-out effort? Sometimes it's masked, but at the end of the day, there's an all-out effort to make sure that certain voters don't find their way to the polls.
ABRAMS: Well, we know that the way voter suppression works, there are three component pieces. Can you register and stay on the rolls? Can you cast a ballot? And does that ballot get counted? And so in a lot of these states, they are testing out the waters during primaries. So they can do the full show in November. And so, yes, in states across the south and across the country, we're seeing attempts to limit polling places. North Carolina, where they're removing polling stations from black college campuses. They are trying their best to test out the voter suppression mechanisms now.
