Washington – Ronna McDaniel, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on Sunday that Republicans “overwhelmingly” agree with former President Donald Trump’s actions during his term, even though the party seemed deeply fractured after his presidency.
In an interview for “Face the Nation”, McDaniel was pressured to continue to embrace Trump for some wings of the Republican Party, even as the party struggles to lose the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2020. Trump’s position since the The party’s future, she said, will be decided by Republican voters.
“Voters are overwhelmingly saying they agree with what President Trump did in office,” McDaniel told Face the Nation. How do you see Joe Biden withdraw energy independence and cancel the Keystone pipeline, as you see Joe Biden say, I’m going to prioritize opening our borders rather than opening our schools, opening our economies, when you see the vaccine implementation that started in Operation Warp Speed in less than a year – those are the kinds of things voters are saying they saw happen in the Trump administration and now they’re seeing the Biden government pull these things out. “
Trump is expected to make his first public appearance since leaving office at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a meeting of Republicans in Florida, late Sunday. During his remarks, the ex-president must reaffirm his position as leader of the Republican Party and criticize his successor, President Biden, as well as members of his own party who denounced the ex-president following the January 6 attack on the Capitol of the United States. USA.
While Trump continues to boast a large number of political followers and a loyal base of support, the Republican Party in the wake of Trump’s presidency is divided, as some Republicans believe the party should move on without him.
Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump for “inciting insurrection” because of his conduct on January 6, and seven Senate Republicans voted to convict him on impeachment charges. Some state republican parties have come to censor their republican state senators and legislators for votes.
On the intrapartisan rebukes of Republican state leaders, McDaniel said: “We can have division within our party and you can make state parties say, ‘I disagree with this vote and I disagree with what you did there.’ But overwhelmingly, our party agrees with each other on more things than we disagree with each other. “
Hanging the party, however, is whether Trump will get the presidency again in 2024, although McDaniel said he doesn’t know if he will run. However, the former president is expected to be active in the next election cycle, helping Republicans win back a majority in the House and Senate in 2022.
“We are a handful of seats back in the House, we won 15 in this last election and a chair back in the Senate,” said McDaniel, adding that an increasing number of Republicans “recognize that we need to unite around, how are we going to win back those majorities and stop Biden in his way? “
Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who has emphasized the need for the Republican Party to publicly separate from Trump, agrees that there is unity among Republicans on opposite aspects of Biden’s agenda. But he believes the party is divided on its vision for the future.
“I think we are a party that has been riding fear for a long time, using fear as a convincing way to get votes. And fear motivates. But after a while, fear can destroy a country, it can destroy narratives and it can destroy a democracy. And we have to stop selling that, “Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment, told Face the Nation.
Kinzinger predicted that the ex-president’s next comments will be self-congratulatory.
“No ability to recognize the fact that we lost the House, the Senate and the presidency because of Donald Trump,” he said. “And you will see a lot of fear.”
Kinzinger acknowledged that Trump continues to cultivate political followers, but said the Republican Party needs a counter-narrative that paints an optimistic future.
“I think he certainly has, you know, a lot of people who follow him and are motivated by him and compelled by him because there was no alternative competitive view,” he said. “You know, to win a narrative at a party, you have to present an alternative competing narrative. When you just listen to Donald Trump and people walk around in fear of his tweets or comments or use his fear to win re-election, of course, it will motivate people. “
Kinzinger launched his own group, Country 1st PAC, to resist the Trump party wing, and said the Republican Party needs to look inside to determine how to move the country beyond its divisions.
“Every party, but now, especially the Republican Party, has to look inside after January 6 and say, what have we become? What is our big story and how are we going to move on from here?” he said. “And I’m going to tell you, getting in touch with Donald Trump and more of the same won’t do.”