Ronna McDaniel on VA election results: Common sense won on Tuesday
The RNC chairwoman reacts to Glenn Youngkin’s win in Virginia and how it could impact the Republicans moving forward
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said "Democrats should be worried" with just a year out until the 2022 midterm elections, saying that, "on their watch, Americans are struggling," and warning that the races across the nation will be a referendum on President Biden’s administration.
In an interview with Fox News, McDaniel said the Biden administration’s policies are "hurting us not just domestically, but at a national security level."
"We’re all suffering under Bidenflation—with an increase in costs, groceries, gas—things we purchase as homeowners and families," McDaniel said. "We are feeling the crunch right now."
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McDaniel said that under the Biden administration, the U.S. is facing bottlenecks in the supply chain, an "open border," an increase in the crime rate, and more.
"Democrats are very worried—they’re watching a president who won’t speak to the American people, won’t address them in times of crisis," McDaniel said, adding that his disapproval rating has "skyrocketed."
"He hasn’t ever visited the border, he wouldn’t address the American people after the failure of his Afghanistan withdrawal," she continued. "He is a president failing at every level."
McDaniel added: "Democrats should be worried. It comes down to Biden."
Republicans are expected to use those issues, McDaniel said, by delivering a "very optimistic message" to voters.
"We want to lower taxes, have our parents involved in the classroom, show that freedom matters, and we’re not about canceling people," she said, adding the importance of "freedom of speech, religion and thought."
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"We are not going to put the reins of our country in the hands of Big Tech and others to determine which speech can be heard and which can’t," McDaniel said.
At this point, the RNC has $70.7 million cash-on-hand, just slightly outpacing the Democratic National Committee’s current $69.7 million cash-on-hand. The GOP’s figure, though, is the highest cash-on-hand for a post-presidential year in RNC history.
As for the involvement of former President Donald Trump, McDaniel told Fox News Republicans "need him out helping."
"If you look at Trump popularity in the party, it is at an incredibly high level," McDaniel said. "When he is not on the ballot, a lot of his voters don’t show up, so we need him out helping his voters to turn out."
The closely watched gubernatorial race in Virginia last week, a one-time battleground state that’s still very competitive between the two major parties, was seen as a key bellwether ahead of next year’s midterms.
But Trump touted his endorsement of Virginia’s now-Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin, telling Fox News that "MAGA voters" came out "in force."
"The people of Virginia are angry, and the reason we won that state — number one — we had a good candidate and a nice guy and somebody who was really, very gracious," Trump told Fox News. "But you also had the MAGA voters come out in force because they’re tired of it, and they voted, and they made the difference."
The former president told Fox News that he would be "very involved" in the midterms, and will "stay busy for good people."
Trump, who has already offered his endorsement to dozens of Republican incumbents and candidates for 2022, said that he will continue to give endorsements.
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Trump also told Fox News that he will "probably" wait until after the 2022 midterm elections to formally announce whether he will run for president in 2024, saying that timeline is "probably appropriate."
"I am certainly thinking about it and we’ll see," Trump said. "I think a lot of people will be very happy, frankly, with the decision, and probably will announce that after the midterms."
Meanwhile, McDaniel told Fox News that the RNC will be pushing voters to turn out and vote.
"Everyone needs to get out and vote," she said. "That is what we all need to be doing."
"We all need to be focusing on electing Republicans, because, at the end of the day, we have to beat the Democrats if we are going to put any kind of check and balance on Joe Biden," McDaniel said.
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