'I Choose America': Former GOP Chair, Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele Says He's Voting For Joe Biden
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Another prominent Maryland Republican is not voting for President Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.
On Tuesday, former Lieutenant Governor and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he will be voting for Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Steele, who served as the lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007, appeared in an ad from The Lincoln Project, a group that describes its mission as defeating President Trump. Steele is listed as a senior adviser for the group.
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In the ad, Steele recounted a foiled plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore on his way to his inauguration in 1861.
The plot, Steele said, would have plunged the country into chaos. He then warns "we may face a crisis of similar proportion" in the days ahead, describing Trump as possibly "an outlaw president clinging to power and defying the will of the people."
This election, former RNC Chair and a lifelong Republican, @MichaelSteele, is voting to restore the soul of our nation.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 20, 2020
He's voting for Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/iO2bl8OYvW
"This ballot is like none ever cast," Steele said in the ad, holding up a ballot envelope. "I'm a lifelong Republican and I'm still a Republican, but this ballot is how we restore the soul of our nation."
Steele then describes Biden as a "good man" and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, as a "trailblazer."
"America or Trump?" Steele concludes. "I choose America."
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Late last week, the communications director for Maryland's current Republican governor, Larry Hogan, announced Hogan had also not voted for Trump.
Hogan, though, cast his ballot for the late former President Ronald Reagan.
When asked about why he chose Reagan, Hogan told reporters Monday, "I don't think either one of the candidates (Trump or Biden) is the right choice."
In 2016, Hogan wrote his father's name in for president instead of voting for Trump.