WASHINGTON (SBG) — As Congress fights through these divisive negotiations over a COVID-19 relief bill right now, both parties are trying to sell an important message to the American people.
Not just about this issue, but any topic that could sway voters in the 2022 midterms. That includes how exactly their parties are defined.
And if you had to choose a word to describe Capitol Hill these days, ‘divided’ may be top of the list — and how to bridge that gap is unclear. We asked about possible solutions from RNC Chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel.
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Scott Thuman: “President Joe Biden has said he wants bipartisanship to be a big part of his efforts moving forward. You’ve got COVID negotiations going on right now. Are you encouraged by anything you’re seeing?”
Ronna McDaniel: “I haven't seen anything from the Biden administration that signals a true willingness or effort to work in a bipartisan way, especially using reconciliation to pass this $1.9 trillion boondoggle...it’s unfortunate because he ran on that. I think many voters thought he would do that and we haven't’ seen any of that and remember the last stimulus bills for COVID were done in a bipartisan way.”
Scott Thuman: “Does some of that blame though lay at the feet of both parties right now?”
Ronna McDaniel: “You know, the Democrats have the control right now and I think they’ve decided we don’t need Republicans, so we’re going to work on our own.”
Scott Thuman: “So often, the historic trend is the party in power in the White House tends to lose a little bit of ground in midterms. I’m guessing that’s your ultimate goal."
Ronna McDaniel: “I think a lot of people don’t realize Republicans are only five seats away from taking majority in the House. Redistricting alone, we’re going to pick up seats in Texas and Florida and North Carolina, but we want to make sure that we take back a branch of government to be a check and a balance like our founders intended.”
Scott Thuman: “Right now, a lot of critics of the party are trying to make sure that when you say ‘Republican’, you also have to acknowledge some of these factions like Qanon or proud boys. What are you doing to kind of put out a distancing or a line of separation there?”
Ronna McDaniel: “I’ve been very vocal. Any group that supports white supremacy or anti-Semitism or hate or racism, you are not welcome in our party....I call on democrats, do the same with Antifa. Do the same with Louis Farrakhan...a lot of the riots and the dangerous things that we saw this summer, cities were being burned to the ground, denounce them. Do not give them a home in your party and I’ll do the same. “
Scott Thuman: “Some of the dust has settled since election day. What is the direction of your party right now? Who would you say is the leader of your party?"
Ronna McDaniel: “I always say the voters are the leader of our party and the voters obviously overwhelmingly supported the president, but they support Republicans up and down the ticket.”
Scott Thuman: “How much direction or how much decision making is still going through former President Donald Trump?”
Ronna McDaniel: “From an RNC perspective, really, he didn’t do a lot of the decision making even when he was president. He was running the White House and the RNC was determining which races to get involved in.”
Scott Thuman: “Is it true that you warned former President Trump against to start a third party?”
Ronna McDaniel: “I’m not going to share my private conversations, but I would warn anyone against forming a third party in our party, because you know, you’re just going to divide the vote and hand everything to the Democrats.”
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EDITOR'S NOTE: For the perspective of the Democratic party, Scott Thuman also plans on holding a conversation with the new head of the DNC, Jamie Harrison, coming up next week.