I created a completely clean virtual environment, installed steem-python and tried running it and it worked fine for me

You can try upgrading your steem-python since maybe you have an older version. If that doesn't work you can also contact me on Discord at Amos#4622 and I can help you out!
hmmm..thanks for ur work, I'll take a closer look on that and will let you know!
Which python version r u using?
Python 3.6.5 :: Anaconda custom (64-bit).