REPUBLICANS Unified More Than Ever
RNC delegates who talked with Newsmax on Tuesday night believed that the party was united heading into the fall election, citing remarks made by past adversaries of Donald Trump like Nikki Haley and the broad consensus on the platform that the president wrote.
Many acknowledged that Donald Trump’s response to his near-assassination over the weekend had a significant role in the togetherness. Others emphasized how important it is to defeat Joe Biden and take over both chambers of Congress.
And still others accepted that it was Donald Trump’s Republican Party and were okay with it since almost all “never-Trumpers” had not attended the convention, including former president George W. Bush, his brother Jeb, and 2012 presidential contender Mitt Romney.
District of Columbia GOP Chairman Patrick Mara told us, “Certainly the attempt on President Trump’s life is a factor in our being as united as we’ve never been, just as it surely changed him.” “Additionally, the platform removes all anti-LGBTQ sentiment and any resistance to same-sex marriage, acknowledging abortion as a state matter. That has made us more closer than we were before.”
GOP National Committeeman Henry Barbour of Mississippi stated, “A near-death experience with our nominee and the pride we have in how he reacted to it is a factor in our unity.” “Our platform is design to grow the vote and we’re running on unifying issues.”
“The attempt to assassinate our candidate has united us more than ever,” stated Arkansas Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, prior to applauding on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ speech to the convention. “But the price of groceries and gasoline and Joe Biden himself are factors in that unity.”
Fellow Razorback State delegate Eddie Arnold agreed with Rutledge’s viewpoint, but he also stressed that “10 million people coming over the border illegally and then eating up our welfare system can get a lot of people fed up and lead to party unity.”
Delegate Sue Cienki of Rhode Island informed us that “President Trump has the best chance of defeating Joe Biden—and we have a message that simple people can understand.”
Annalisa Stravato, the newly elected Republican National Committeewoman for Connecticut, informed us that “Everyone in [the Connecticut GOP] is very optimistic.” That makes a big statement. (Connecticut’s last Republican presidential candidate was in 1988.)
While fervent conservatives Rutledge and Barbour are viewed as far more radical than Stravato, Cienki, and Mara, they all agreed that the party is united and enthusiastic about its policy and candidate.