The Huffington Post’s Nick Wing reports:
During an appearance on WBAL radio last week, Steele was asked to address a concern from Indiana Committeeman Jim Bopp, Jr., who had claimed that the RNC chairman played the race card in framing his own reelection fight as a test that will “speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln.”
“Well, Mr. Bopp is an idiot,” Steele responded on WBAL. “If he took that away from, and I don’t want to be crass, and I don’t want to throw stones at him, but I just think that’s an idiotic statement to make.”
Steele followed up by saying Bopp’s grudge was personal, and that his comments may have had “something to do with my cutting his million dollar contract with the RNC.”
Gentry Collins, one of the five candidates vying to replace Steele, and perhaps his most outspoken critic — though another challenger on Monday warned contenders not to support Steele under any circumstances — quickly picked up on the comments and demanded an apology on Bopp’s behalf.