In 2025, a variety of special elections — including two congressional races in Florida — will be viewed as a referendum on Donald Trump’s second presidency. Democratic and GOP strategists are also paying close attention to a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, which finds Trump ally Elon Musk spending millions of dollars in the hope of getting conservative candidate Brad Schimel past the finish line. Democrats, meanwhile, are aggressively supporting liberal candidate Susan Crawford in that race, which is technically nonpartisan. During a Saturday morning, March 29 panel discussion, MSNBC host Michael Steele argued that it will bad news for Trump if GOP candidates perform badly in 2025’s special elections. And Steele — a Never Trump conservative who formerly served as chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and lieutenant governor of Maryland — warned that Republicans will ramp up their voter suppression efforts if they see these elections as a threat.On March 25, Trump signed an executive order calling for proof of citizenship for voter registration. READ MORE: ‘This is illegal’: Critics slam Musk for ‘bribing people to vote’ in key WI raceThe MSNBC panel also included Steele’s “The Weekend” colleagues Alicia Menendez and Symone D. Sanders-Townsend, who were joined by former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) and Media Matters’ Angelo Carusone.Steele told the panel, “This next domino is getting set up to fall around elections, where they will begin to say, ‘Hey, in order for you to vote in federal elections, you have to have an ID. Sorry, full stop, you can’t vote otherwise.’ And to limit the capacity and the access that individuals have, that is the ultimate end game. If you’re going to really make this authoritarian model work, you can’t allow people to vote on the issue you’re doing.”Dent, another Never Trumper, interjected that Trump’s executive order will be “challenged legally” because “elections are conducted by state and local governments” — not by the federal government.Dent told Steele and the other panelists, “I support voter ID. I’ve always thought: as long as it’s reasonable. But if you’re going to have a national voter ID requirement, you might need an actual national ID — which we don’t have. I mean, we have passports, but most people don’t have passports.”READ MORE: ‘Freaking out’: Trump mocked for saying ‘out loud’ why he withdrew Stefanik’s nominationDent argued that the Florida special elections may be a warning sign for Trump.”You know, I think the Republican candidate is really struggling down there,” the former GOP congressman told the others. “I’m not going to say he’s going to lose, but it’s a low-single-digit race. It’s within the margin of error; that scares him.”READ MORE: ‘Tide’s turning’ for Dems in Florida as special election reveals ‘buyer’s remorse’ among Trump votersWatch the full video below or at this link.
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