Emmer predicted in an interview with POLITICO Playbook authors Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade that he and Trump will have a conversation “at some point”.
With broad support in the Republican Party, Trump still stands out in the Republican Party and has already begun to advance to the 2022 primaries. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend, the former president read the names of all Republicans in House and Senate who voted for impeachment or condemnation, pressing to “get rid of them all”.
And last week, Trump endorsed a major opponent for Republican Representative Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who voted for his impeachment. This endorsement came despite his advisers pushing him to focus on Democrats, not intra-party disputes.
Emmer is among the highest profile Republicans in the House, who so far are willing to break with the former president for his support of the Republican Party’s primary candidates.
Emmer said the NRCC will not openly enter the primaries under his supervision, but will provide resources to Republican Party officials as part of an effort to win back the majority in the House, a victory he secured in next year’s midterm elections.
The Minnesota lawmaker also broke with the president, saying he did not believe that Congress had the right to oppose the certification of votes from the Electoral College. Emmer voted to certify the election results.
Emmer said that Congress does not have the power to “insert itself”, saying that it can only intervene if no candidate reaches 270 voters or if states send “alternative voter lists”.
“The Constitution is a limiting document. That is to say, there is a reason why one of the amendments speaks directly to the fact that any power that is not expressly enumerated to the federal government, is reserved to the states ”, he said. “I would encourage Democrats and Republicans that, as we move forward, we should always follow this.”
He avoided saying that the votes against certifying the results of last November’s elections were explicitly unconstitutional, but said that others should reevaluate.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion,” said Emmer. “I think that all of us, as we move forward, should reexamine what the Constitution says.”
But the NRCC president hardly said that Trump and the Republicans should stop making false claims that Trump won the election.
“All of us together will ensure that we will restore the integrity of our elections so that people can trust that their votes are being counted and that the result is fair and transparent,” said Emmer.
Emmer added that Republicans should “celebrate” Trump’s policies in the future, saying that they brought “many new voters” to Republicans. Emmer specifically pointed to Trump’s policies on energy, immigration and his “America First” agenda.
“Look at what your administration has done,” said Emmer. “Extremely popular.”
A week after Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Sean Patrick Maloney told Bade and Daniels that the Republican Party’s efforts to label Democrats as socialists were a “republican caricature,” Emmer argued that it was a true picture.
“We are going to be very honest. When your conference is descending in the direction of this radical socialist left agenda … and you are not standing up to fight it … you will take it over. You will be the owner of the entire agenda, ”said Emmer. “This is not one or two or three or four members.” Maloney had argued that this kind of criticism was misrepresenting Democrats as a whole.
“There will always be one or two members at any Congressional political convention who will say things that do not represent the majority’s position,” said Maloney.
Rachael Bade contributed to this report.