[ad_1]
Las Vegas
CNN
—
The consensus at the 2024 Republican National Committee Winter Meeting in Las Vegas this week was clear among pro-Trump and anti-Trump supporters alike. Donald Trump will be this year’s party presidential nominee.
“Let’s be honest: Unless something dramatic happens in the next few months, Mr. Trump is going to be the Republican nominee,” said Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wall. “And with that in mind, yes, obviously the Democrats are already looking to the general election. They’ve already started their campaign against Donald Trump. Republicans are ready to get there, too. There is.”
The confidence of the 168 RNC committee members reflected the former president’s control and enduring control over much of the Republican Party. Most of the lawmakers in attendance said they were Trump supporters or pledged to support whoever ultimately becomes the party’s nominee. Few, if any, publicly expressed his support for President Trump’s last remaining rival, Nikki Haley.
“Not only is he the nominee, but the RNC is at least more pro-Trump than the average Republican,” said Rob Steele, a member of the RNC from Michigan. Steele estimated that the 168-member commission is now made up of 70% of the people who have chaired it and joined the committee since Trump was first appointed in 2016.
Trump is nearing the finish line of the Republican primary with impressive wins in Iowa and New Hampshire last month, but he still faces four criminal charges and is contesting a jury verdict in a civil defamation case. There is. And Haley has vowed to stay in the race in his home state of South Carolina and beyond.
But party members expressed confidence in how the primary would play out and what would be needed after that, as well as a sense of urgency to see the primary concluded, even nominally. The race between Trump and Haley will conclude on February 24th in South Carolina. Haley and her team have sought to narrow Trump’s lead in the state by emphasizing her accomplishments as governor and reminding voters of her state’s roots. He sought to downplay the potential consequences in the state.
But in South Carolina, Haley’s home state where she has been twice elected to the top office, Trump is ahead of her in polls. He has also been endorsed by several politicians in the state, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, Gov. Henry McMaster, and Rep. Nancy Mace. Trump and his team are also focused on scheduling local fundraisers to blunt Haley’s momentum among deep-pocketed donors.
At the winter meeting, Republican committee members and chairmen repeatedly expressed their eagerness for the South Carolina primary to be held and produce an uncontroversial candidate.
“We’ll see how the process plays out, but I think it’s going to come to a conclusion sooner or later,” Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power said in an interview. “I think you think about what would happen if the Democrats won. They could control everything. They would get rid of the filibuster. They would pack the Supreme Court. We are united. We need to get into this firefight as soon as possible.”
As the primaries draw to a close, the possibility looms within the party that Trump could face criminal charges and secure the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Still, RNC Commissioner Sean Steele of California dismissed the dangers of a scenario that would hold the Republican ticket. Steele said Republicans should take comfort in the possibility that none of the major challenges President Trump faces will occur before the election.
“There is also the possibility of speculation that a meteorite swarm will strike the Earth and all existence will experience a sixth mass extinction…there will be no doubt about it,” Steele said. said. “But the good news is that given all these possibilities, there is a legal agreement that none of these criminal trials will take place this year. That is a fact of life. There is a possibility that one civil trial will take place. There is a gender, but it does not have the same force and effect.”
It’s a sentiment shared by many RNC officials.
“Unfortunately, the legal content is so outrageous that it amounts to election interference,” said RNC Commissioner Richard Porter from Illinois. “The cases are generally ridiculous. So I don’t think people will be convinced of the merits of these lawsuits.
Still, other RNC members are concerned that the trials could distract from how the election proceeds regarding Biden’s record.
“We want this election to be a referendum on the failure of Mr. Biden’s presidency, but if we nominate Donald Trump, Mr. “It will be about Trump, not Trump.”
Throughout the meeting, overt dissatisfaction with the Republican Party’s electoral woes and fundraising numbers shifted away from President Trump and toward discontent among some members of Congress.
“The criticism[of RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel]is generally coming from the Trumper side,” said Bill Palatucci, an RNC committee member from New Jersey. He has also clashed with pro-Trump Republicans. “To me, it’s pretty hypocritical and ironic that Rona is receiving criticism.”
With the primary election largely settled on committee members, concerns instead focused on other topics throughout the four-day meeting. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has recently emphasized that she is trying to direct her party to do a better job of addressing the abortion issue, following the party’s string of defeats in the wake of post-RNC global criticism. There is.
The theme of the meeting was not to bet on the upcoming presidential election. Some committee members were given fake RNC poker chips of his and cards that read, “Do not bet on the outcome… Carefully vetted rules.” [sic] That’s the safest bet. ”
At the RNC winter meeting, the chairman showed three Democratic attack ads on abortion to give a preview of what Republicans should expect on the issue in the coming year. Mr. McDaniel reiterated recent claims that supporting a blanket ban on abortion without exception would spell doom for the candidate, according to a person familiar with his remarks. She argued that candidates and the Republican camp need to work to define their own definition of abortion early on, rather than forcing Democrats to do it.
The meeting also highlighted how pro-Trump factions are creating divisions within the party. The ongoing dispute between different factions of the state Republican Party was brought to light this week with the recognition of both ousted Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Christina Karamo and her successor, former Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, as guests of honor. became. Neither was fully recognized as the official chair and could not vote as the other’s chair.
Critics of the RNC committee also took aim at McDaniel’s handling of the organization’s budget and finances. That dissatisfaction reached a breaking point with a vote on a resolution that would have added provisions for what would be included in the RNC’s budget. This was an attempt to handcuff the chairman. That resolution failed decisively, according to Republicans present.
Party leaders have stepped up conservative criticism of the RNC and whether it is preparing for the toughest months of the 2024 election cycle. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo stressed in a speech Thursday that he has no patience for “actors taking misleading shots at the RNC.” According to one Republican who attended the speech, he emphasized the “important role the RNC played in his election.”
Another Republican who attended the winter committee speech said Lombardo, who lost control of the Nevada governor’s mansion in 2022, used his speech to echo his campaign’s message that the campaign is contesting the issue. He emphasized the importance of matching the states and constituencies in which they are located.
“He was basically saying everyone needs to stop complaining and defeat the Democrats,” said a committee member who attended the speech.
[ad_2]
Source link
