How does the former Republican National Committee Chairman turned MSNBC political analyst handle his money? By giving to a top Democrat Senate candidate.

OpenSecrets records revealed that Michael Steele personally donated $250 to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) during the 2018 elections on July 1, 2018, raising concerns about conflicts of interests. Manchin would go on to win reelection against West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), Manchin receiving 49.6 percent of the vote.

Steele recently referred to supporters of President Donald Trump as “pathetic sycophants.” He also recently accused Republicans of throwing “virtue and value out the window because those things anchor down your choices. It makes it hard to stand with Trump if you still value the propositions and the ideals of the Republican Party of let's say, oh, gosh, let's say Ronald Reagan.”

It turns out valuing “the propositions and the ideals” of Reagan for Steele included contributing to Dems.

For reporting purposes, Steele listed The Steele Group as his employer, of which he is both president and CEO. That said, he is still employed by MSNBC according to his LinkedIn profile.

What’s concerning is that Steele had provided commentary as an analyst for MSNBC on the West Virginia senate elections (amongst others) approximately two months after making his donation. During a Sept. 12, 2018, segment on MSNBC’s Meet The Press Daily, Steele responded to a question concerning the Senate elections and Republican vulnerability, stating:

CHUCK TODD: “If they’re knife fights, and it’s September, isn’t this part of the wave?” MICHAEL STEELE: “It is part of the wave, and a number of us have been talking about this for close to eight or nine months now, that the Senate could potentially be in play for a lot of reasons. You know, when everybody was counting out West Virginia and places like that. ‘Oh, Democrats are going to lose those seats.’ No they’re not” [emphases added].