Until recently, Steve Frias of Cranston held one of the top posts in the Rhode Island Republican Party — national committeeman. Frias decided to not seek re-election for that role because he does not support Donald Trump, now the GOP nominee for president. Frias is among a small number of Rhode Island Republicans who have publicly repudiated Trump, and he’s been more outspoken than most in calling out the former president’s false claims about a stolen election in 2020. So does Frias share Democrats’ concerns about Trump’s possible return to the White House? What about Trump’s pick of JD Vance as his running mate and the theatrics at the RNC in Milwaukee this week? And does the Cranston Republican have any bright ideas for how to improve the meager GOP legislative representation in Rhode Island? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with local historian, past legislative candidate and former Rhode Island GOP National Committeeman Steve Frias.
Ian Donnis: Welcome back to the Public’s Radio.
Steve Frias: Thank you.
Donnis: Let’s start with the issue of political violence following the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. I’m always struck in Rhode Island by how most of the time the legislators at the General Assembly do a pretty good job of treating one another with civility and respect, even when they sharply disagree. Beyond that, what do you think should be done to try and reduce the chance of political violence?
Frias: Well, political violence occurs, I think, when you look at our history, in two situations. One, when people feel like their voice is not going to be heard because they think elections don’t matter. And two, when they think the election stakes are so high that it could be, you know, if they lose, it’s apocalyptic. Like, for example, if you lose, America as you know it is over. And the first instance where people feel like the elections don’t matter, that happened, you saw the violence that happened on January 6th. So the first thing I would say is, to kind of tamper down political violence. Be straight with people that, you know, our elections are not rigged, number one. Number two, in regards to the issue of political violence about the stakes, you know, when the winning side wins, they have to recognize that they don’t speak for everyone. And so, they need to be willing to compromise and recognize that even if 40 percent of the people don’t agree with them, they still should try to be magnanimous and work with them when they enact policies. Because when it’s a winner takes all stakes. That’s when people start getting violent because they worry if you lose, their life is over, their country’s over.
Donnis: After the recent attempt on former President Trump’s life, Rhode Island Republican Chairman Joe Powers said in a statement, in part, “they have impeached him.
indicted him and tried to jail him. Now they have resorted to an attempted assassination…” Now we know that the shooter was a registered Republican. He’d given $15 to a pro-Democratic group. But do you think this kind of message from the Republican Party in Rhode Island is, is the appropriate message?
Frias: Okay, so your readers, I mean, excuse me, your listeners can understand. You know, Joe, I think, is a well intentioned guy. I get along with him quite well. Now, what he says doesn’t necessarily, he speaks for the party. He doesn’t necessarily speak for my personal views. So, on that front, I’ll say this. I do not believe it is factually accurate to use the word they. The people, the elected officials who impeached President Trump, the jurors who indicted and attempted and found him guilty of a felony are not one and the same, and I know of no connection between those people, jurors, or elected officials, with this gunman. So, when there’s violence, my suggestion is always to calm it down, rather than ramp it up.
Donnis: You declined to run for re-election to a top leadership post in the Rhode Island Republican Party because you could not support Donald Trump. Why not?
Frias: Well, it was one of the more difficult decisions I’ve made in regards to politics in my life. I’ve been a lifelong Republican. I’m a small government conservative. And, In the end, I have to be true to myself, and if you’re true to yourself, if you’re not true to yourself, you can’t be true to others. And, I just don’t agree with, you know, the election is stolen, that the people involved in January 6th should be pardoned, that the, you know, the legal system is rigged. And that was a coming from former President Trump. And so, at some point, I have some fundamental differences about that, and I decided I didn’t want to support him, or for that matter, President Biden either. I’m just not supporting either one of them because I think those issues are pretty fundamental, the Constitution, following the Constitution and the rule of law.
Donnis: Trump’s critics fear that if he wins in November, he will be emboldened and a lot of the guardrails that help to protect democracy will be weakened, that he would pack the federal government with loyalists, etc. Do you think that’s a legitimate concern?
Frias: Let me, parse your question this way. I think if he wins, he will feel emboldened. And from looking at his history, he’s the type of person who, he figures out how far can I get away with something. Do I consider President Trump a threat to democracy? No, because I think we have a checks and balance system in our country so robust. An independent judiciary, a free press, our federal system of government. The U.S. Senate could be a check, and the difficulty of amending our constitution. When you put all those things in place, I think he would, he will be checked. That it will be fine, but it will be a very rocky road.
Donnis: I believe you referred to yourself as a small government Republican earlier. What do you make of the recent Supreme Court decision expanding presidential power? And does that counteract the argument that you just made about the checks on presidential power?
Frias: That’s a very good question you asked me. Because I generally, I’m an originalist in my viewpoint, and I think that the originalists on the Supreme Court, and I say this with respect because I don’t attack judges, okay, whether I agree with them or not, I think that their decision was not the best decision because if you look at our Constitution, there is no absolute immunity for our president. It’s not in there. It’s in the text. If you look at the history. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 69 talked about the president was going to be held accountable after he left office. I think it was a decision that they will eventually have to walk back. Because it just doesn’t make sense when people can just like, for example, potentially sell a pardon and not be held accountable in the criminal court. Now, I think that the court, I think there will be sufficient votes on that court if push comes to shove. I think that enough, those judges there did not like the prosecution of the January 6th case because it was a very liberal, broad reading of the statutes, those prosecutions by the special counsel on the January 6th. So I think that affected their decision making on that. And I will say that in the past, some of those same judges that President Trump voted, excuse me, appointed, voted against him. On other decisions, whether it be tax returns or other things. So they have shown independence from President Trump.
Donnis: Donald Trump really has vast sway over the Republican Party right now. Why do you think your views are so rarely held from what we see, at least, among Republicans these days?
Frias: Politics. The most important thing in politics for most politicians is winning. If President Trump had lost in 2016, I think my views would be more in the ascendant, or more widespreadly held. Because he won, and because he succeeded in doing a number of things, policy wise, more people are just basically saying it’s the ends justifies the means. And also small government conservatives, you know, this is a difficult position to sometimes have. It’s principled. And you sometimes are saying things that are not popular. But when you’re a populist, your goal is always to be popular.
Donnis: You have run for the General Assembly in the past. You arguably are a father in part of the removal of the car tax because Nick Mattiello, a former speaker, made that move when you were running against him a few years ago. But I wonder, we’ve seen the GOP presence in the General Assembly decline over time to the point where there are now only 14 Republicans among 113 legislative seats. What do you think Republicans need to do differently to increase their representation in the General Assembly?
Frias: Well, let’s start out with the basic problem. We are a super minority in this state. Like, it’s just like, you know, 40 percent of the people in this state basically vote Republican at the statewide level. We should be targeting first, of course, our seats where President Trump does well, wins, or comes close to winning. That’s almost a third of the chamber. And then, we have to find good candidates who are willing to put up the resources to get seats there. But it’s very difficult to do so because it’s a major time commitment. And you’re basically an entrepreneur on your own trying to win a seat. Versus the Democrats that have a whole support system. They have special interests, they have the House or Senate leadership, so it’s, that’s the problem. It’s basically like a small business guy on his own trying to win a seat, versus an entire conglomeration. of organized, well financed groups and entities.
Donnis: You are a member of the commission preparing Rhode Island for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding in 2026. I have a question for you about that. I see how New Jersey is spending $25 million to prepare for 2026 and promote itself. Here in Rhode Island, the state has allocated only $150,000 in the current year for the same purpose. Do you think Rhode Island is squandering an opportunity to attract more tourists and encourage more economic development based on our prominent role in America’s history?
Frias: Let me tell you, you know, your 250th birthday doesn’t come along all that often, and spending some money to basically celebrate the greatness of this country, I think, is obviously a good idea. We’re going to need some celebrating and unifying in this country more than ever. We started talking about political violence at the beginning. Well, when you celebrate the founding of your country, that helps bring people together. And of course if we’re able to do some things that can, drum up tourism, that’s even a twofer. You get your money back with people coming in maybe to see things.
Donnis: Why do you think it is that the state has not recognized that spending more money could have a ripple effect in making the state bring in more money and more visitors?
Frias: Well, I want to be careful about what I’m going to say. So the General Assembly and all elected officials, they basically very focused on what’s right in front of them. And this is 2026. So I would say possibly some of it is, you know, that’s still a couple years away. We got to focus on this and focus on that right now. And I think that’s a factor. And so maybe as it gets closer, They’ll recognize the opportunity and they will step up.
Donnis: You serve on the plan commission in Cranston and you oppose the bill now law to create more accessory dwelling units or to make it easier. What are your concerns about that? Well, very
Frias: Well very simply it’s this, accessory dwelling units, they should be, if you’re going to have an accessory dwelling unit on a single family home, it should be owner occupied, that home. The reason is, is that if you don’t, then. Some investor can come in, buy the property, and then put an ADU there, and all of a sudden you have an absentee landlord in a single family home neighborhood. Okay? And absentee landlords, I’ve seen this in my own experience on the planning board in Cranston, sometimes they don’t keep up their property. Sometimes they neglect it. And the people who’ve invested, A huge part of their life savings to be in a single family, single family zoned neighborhood. You know, they’re going to be harmed if in the middle of their neighborhood or next to their home, there’s an absentee landlord neglecting their property.
Donnis: Steve Frias, former Republican National Committeeman for Rhode Island. Thank you so much for joining us.
Frias: Thank you, Ian.
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The state of New Jersey is spending $25 million to prepare for the celebration of America’s 250th birthday in 2026. Here in Rhode Island, just 6% of that amount, or $150,000, has been allocated for the same purpose. That meager amount gives weight to arguments that the Ocean State is squandering an opportunity to better celebrate and capitalize on its heritage. You can read more about that in my TGIF column, posting around 4 this afternoon at the publics radio-dot-org and on what used to be known as Twitter at IanDon. That’s it for our show. Political Roundtable is a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is James Baumgartner. I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.
