The head of the Republican National Committee (RNC) says in a new interview that former President Trump “still leads the party,” even as the RNC has vowed to remain neutral if Trump runs again in 2024.
RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel touted Trump’s fundraising abilities in an interview on AM 970 in New York, with Trump recently reporting a political war chest of more than $100 million entering the second half of 2021.
“You know I always say, go back to the voter, and I think when you see the amount of people that show up to the rallies for President Trump, and this $102 million fundraising haul, I think the voters in America — Republicans in America — would absolutely say the president’s the most popular Republican and still leads the party,” McDaniel told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable.”
Trump has not officially declared whether he will run for president again in 2024, but has raised tens of millions of dollars as Republicans turn their attention to next year’s midterms elections. GOP leaders have signaled a desire for the former president to help shore up support for House and Senate candidates.
McDaniel said earlier this year that the RNC would “stay neutral” in the next GOP presidential race if Trump were to run again, though expressed a desire for him to help campaign for congressional Republicans. before then.
“I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” McDaniel told The Associated Press in January. “That’s going to be up to those candidates going forward. What I really do want to see him [Trump] do, though, is help us win back majorities in 2022.”
McDaniel claimed in the interview that aired Sunday that since President Biden took office “it’s pretty much been all ugly,” pointing to looser immigration enforcement, rising inflation and higher gas prices.
She also blasted efforts by progressives to get rid of the Senate filibuster as well as reshape the judiciary, including proposals looking at expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court.
“Our country’s at stake. It’s not just Democrat versus Republican, it’s Republican versus communism,” she said. “They want to take your … freedom of speech away, your freedom of religion.”
“We won’t recognize America if we don’t win this next election,” she added.
Via The Hill
