EXCLUSIVE: The president of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Ronna McDaniel, says she is confident that former President Trump will not start a dissident party.
But pointing to recent internal struggles within the Republican Party, McDaniel warned that the Republican Party must “unite” to succeed in the 2022 elections, when the party hopes to win back majorities in the House and Senate and maintain its advantage over Democrats in the United States. state governments and legislatures.
TOP TRUMP ADIVISER MAKES PLANS FOR THIRD PARTIES
“I talked to the president (Trump). I talked to other people around the president, who talk to him every day. He will not open a third party, ”emphasized McDaniel in an interview on Tuesday with Fox News.
Republican National Committee President Ronna McDaniel speaks during the Trump Victory press conference on November 6, 2020 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. McDaniel spoke about the state of the election and intentions to pursue allegations of incorrect ballot handling in Michigan and across the country. (Photo by Elaine Cromie / Getty Images)
Recent national reports have suggested that the former president was in discussions with top political advisers about the possibility of forming a third party – possibly called ‘The Patriot Party’ – that Trump would lead and use to compete with the Republican Party.
But senior adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign, Jason Miller, told Fox News on Sunday that the former president “made it clear that his goal is to win the House and Senate back to Republicans in 2022.” Miller added that “there is nothing that is being actively planned in relation to an effort outside of that, but it is completely up to the Republican senators if that is something that becomes more serious.”
This appeared to be an implicit warning to Republican senators not to join Senate Democrats in the vote to condemn Trump in the Senate impeachment trial.
Trump has repeatedly pledged to play an influential role in the GOP going forward, threatening to support the primary challenges to Republicans for re-election in 2022 who did not support their unsuccessful attempt to overthrow their electoral defeat for President Biden. Trump is also flirting with a presidential race in 2024 to try to win back the White House.
TRUMP TIPES A POLITICAL REPAIR WHILE DEPARTING THE WHITE HOUSE
Although politically wounded by the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters with the intention of interrupting Biden’s congressional certification of victory in the White House – after the then president’s encouragement – the latest poll indicates that Trump remains very popular with Republicans.
This sentiment seems to be reflected in the actions of members of the Republican Party in Congress. Nearly two-thirds of House Republicans – even after the joint session of Congress was postponed six hours after the insurrection against the Capitol – opposed to certifying the results of the Electoral College in two states that Biden narrowly overtook Trump in the presidential election. And 197 House Republicans voted two weeks ago against Trump’s impeachment, with just 10 Republican lawmakers joining all 222 Democrats in the impeachment vote.
Top Trump’s political adviser Corey Lewandowski – highlighting the $ 250 million raised by Trump since the November election earlier this month – told Fox News at the time that fundraising “will give him (Trump) the opportunity to target individuals who do not support the Make America Great Again agenda in 2022, and that includes Republicans. “
“You have someone who is incredibly popular, who has an enormous amount of money in hand and has the opportunity and the desire to evaluate and hold people accountable for their statements and records,” said Lewandowski.
McDaniel told Fox News that Trump is “interested in getting involved in half-term evidence to ensure we win back the majorities.”
But asked about Trump’s attacks on Republican candidates for re-election in 2022 – like governors. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Mike DeWine of Ohio and Whip minority senator John Thune of South Dakota – McDaniel replied that “the RNC remains neutral in the primaries for good reason. Because someone has to be there to pick up the difficult primary pieces and help bring the party together to focus on how we are going to win the general election. “
And she noted that “even when the president was in office and endorsed in the primaries across the country, the RNC remained neutral.”
ARIZONA GOP CENSURES GOP GOV. DUCEY, CINDY MCCAIN
Last weekend, the Arizona Republican Party censored Republican Governor Doug Ducey, as well as Cindy McCain, the widow of Arizona’s longtime senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, John McCain. The change came when the president of the state’s Republican Party – Trump’s strong supporter, Kelli Ward – was narrowly re-elected, thanks in part to the support of the former president.
McDaniel told Fox News that “Kelli and I talked about the resolutions as they came up. She knew where I was, specifically with the first draft of Cindy McCain’s resolution, which was just disgusting language.”
The RNC president’s interview takes place when Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is number three in the House Republican Party leadership, is facing a push from most House Republicans for her removal from her leadership post due to her vote in favor of Trump’s impeachment.
Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, a key Trump ally in the House, is heading to Wyoming on Thursday to attack Cheney.
GAETZ FORWARDED WYOMING TO GET CHENEY
“I come to talk about Liz Cheney’s failed leadership within our party and the failed policies that she advocates,” he told reporters on Monday. “Most members of the Republican Conference do not believe that Liz Cheney speaks for them. Therefore, it is untenable for her to remain in the position of president of the conference.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel takes the stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while speaking at the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
Against this background, the unity of McDaniel’s preaching party.
“I am firmly convinced that as a party we have to come together,” emphasized McDaniel, who was unanimously re-elected earlier this month for another two-year term on the party’s national committee thanks to Trump’s then-majority endorsement. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, the two main Republicans in Congress.
MCDANIEL UNANIMOUSLY RE-ELECTED TO LEAD RNC FOR MORE TWO YEARS
McDaniel warned that “if we continue to attack each other and focus on attacking other Republicans, if we have disagreements within our party, we will be losing sight of 2022. The only way to win is if we come together and recognize that our policies of cutting taxes, deregulation, energy independence, judges of the rule of law, our policies that the American people want to hear. They don’t want to hear about internal fights within the Republican Party. “
Although the GOP brand has undoubtedly suffered from the Capitol invasion, McDaniel doesn’t think it will be long-lasting.
“We started last year with an impeachment and I don’t think most people remember that. The news cycle changes, ”she noted. “I think people are going to vote based on ‘how will this affect my life?'”
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And he pointed out that the painting contrasts with the Biden government and Congressional Democrats will win in 2022.
“We are already seeing Biden propose policies that will bankrupt our country … already eliminating jobs in key states,” accused the president of the RNC. “The further we go in this and in the contrasts of a political perspective between the government we have just had and the one in power. I think we have a good chance and we will recover these majorities in 2022.”