Steele: Let Michelle Make Olympics Pitch

RNC chair blasts Obama's trip as 'unnecessary'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 29, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
Steele: Let Michelle Make Olympics Pitch
In this photo provided by CBS, Republic National Committee chairman Michael Steele appears on CBS's "Face the Nation" in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/CBS Face the Nation, Karin Cooper)

President Obama shouldn’t bother going to Denmark to argue for Chicago's Olympic bid, Michael Steele says; that’s what Michelle’s for. “The first lady would have been and should have been the lead there,” the RNC chair said today. “Let her go and sell Chicago.” He said the intention behind the trip was “noble,” but that “at a time of war, at a time of recession… this trip, while nice, is not necessary.”

But when a reporter asked if he’d call the trip a mistake, Steele hedged. “Mistake is in the eye of the holder,” he said. When the reporter asked if he, personally, thought it was a mistake, he responded, “I gave you my answer.” The DNC wasn’t so hesitant. “It's just sad that Michael Steele and the Republican Party would talk down our country's Olympic bid,” a rep told the Washington Post. (More Michael Steele stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X