--- description: Former head of the Republican Party Michael Steele said he will not be voting for Donald Trump. title: Michael Steele Won't Vote For Donald Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d36b3e016eb077a/6988ab050b72e355286eb737/michael-steele-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former RNC Head Michael Steele Won't Vote For Donald Trump  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2016 12:03 PM CUT  Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele participates in a debate between chairmanship candidates of the RNC, on Jan. 3, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele participates in a debate between chairmanship candidates of the RNC, on Jan. 3, 2011 in Washington, D.C.Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2016 12:03 PM CUT Former head of the Republican Party Michael Steele said Thursday he will not be voting for Donald Trump. Speaking at a dinner in San Francisco, Steele said, “I will not be voting for Clinton. I will not be voting for Trump either,” [_Buzzfeed_ reports](https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/former-republican-party-chairman-says-he-wont-vote-for-trump?utm%5Fterm=.ei8MJ0mXZJ#.kramG1JL7G "undefined"). He elaborated on why he will not cast a ballot for Trump: he said Trump has “captured that racist underbelly, that frustration, that angry underbelly of American life and gave voice to that.” “I was damn near puking during the debates,” Steele added. Steele led the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011\. He joins a [growing list of Republican officials](http://time.com/4444832/republicans-not-voting-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") who have said they will not support their party’s nominee. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4540209/rnc-michael-steele-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4540209/rnc-michael-steele-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Former RNC Head Michael Steele Won't Vote For Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-10-21T12:03:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:20:15.494Z","description":"Says Trump gives a voice to a \"racist underbelly\" in American life","url":"https://time.com/4540209/rnc-michael-steele-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","republicans","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d36b3e016eb077a/6988ab050b72e355286eb737/michael-steele-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d36b3e016eb077a/6988ab050b72e355286eb737/michael-steele-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"RNC Chair Candidates Debate At National Press Club","caption":"Incumbent Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele participates in a debate between chairmanship candidates of the RNC, on Jan. 3, 2011 in Washington, D.C.","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4540209/rnc-michael-steele-donald-trump/","name":"Former RNC Head Michael Steele Won't Vote For Donald Trump"}}]}] ```