GOP to stay neutral should Trump run again
NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the Republican National Committee on Wednesday declined to encourage former President Donald Trump to run for the White House in 2024, saying the GOP would stay “neutral” in its next presidential primary.
In an interview, RNC Chairman Ronna McDaniel called for Republican unity and to focus on the future.
“The party has to stay neutral. I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” McDaniel told The Associated Press when asked whether she wanted to see Trump run again in the next presidential election. “That’s going to be up to those candidates going forward. What I really do want to see him do, though, is help us win back majorities in 2022.”
McDaniel is in a difficult political position as she begins her new term as the national GOP chair.
She has been a devoted Trump loyalist, but as the RNC leader, she is also tasked with helping her party recover from its painful 2020 election season in which Republicans failed to regain the House, while losing the Senate and the White House. Trump’s fervent base continues to demand loyalty to the former president, even as some party officials acknowledge that Trump’s norm-shattering behavior alienated elements of the coalition the GOP needs to win future elections.
Tensions are especially high within the party as the Senate prepares for Trump’s second impeachment trial.
In the interview, McDaniel discouraged elected officials from attacking other Republicans — even those who voted to impeach Trump. She declined to single out any specific Republicans when pressed, however, including Trump loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is traveling to Wyoming this week to campaign against Rep. Liz Cheney, the highest-ranking House Republican that supported Trump’s impeachment.
“If we’re fighting each other every day and attacking each other and brandishing party purism, we’re not going to accomplish what we need to win back the House and take back the Senate, and that’s my priority,” McDaniel said.
Moving forward, she said that voters, not Trump, are the head of the Republican Party, although Trump continues to maintain “a huge, huge presence” with his base.
McDaniel said she’s expecting several Republican leaders to play a significant role in the party’s future, mentioning former Vice President Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations. Both are also considered potential 2024 presidential contenders.
She also downplayed reports that Trump is considering leaving the GOP and starting a new party, warning that such a move would divide Republicans and “guarantee Democrat wins up and down the ticket.
“It would be basically a rubber stamp on Democrats getting elected. And I think that’s the last thing that any Republican wants,” she said. “It’s clear that he understands that.”
