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RNC Chair: Republicans Who Want To Win in 2018 Had Better Embrace President Trump.
By V. Saxena.
The morning after Republican Ed Gillespie lost against Democrat Ralph Northam in the
Virginia gubernatorial election, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reiterated the need for Republicans
competing in next year�s midterm election to fully embrace President Donald Trump.
She also appeared to suggest Northam, the Democrat candidate, had embraced Trump more
fully than his Republican challenger.
�I think what�s very interesting with the Virginia race is that Ralph Northam started
running ads saying, �I�m gonna work with this president,'� she told Fox News host
Bill Hemmer.
�He moderated positions on sanctuary cities and statues � and we started to see him
gain traction in rural Virginia,� she added.
�So, he actually moved the needle by saying, �I�m gonna work with this president.'�
When asked by Hemmer whether Gillespie had also embraced the president, McDaniel admitted
he had to some degree but seemed to implicitly suggest that perhaps he could have embraced
Trump more passionately.
�He had robocalls in, and he had tweets, but yeah, I will always say to any candidate
in our party, the greatest enthusiasm in our party right now is for President Trump,�
she said.
�We�re seeing it through the fundraising numbers, we�re seeing it across the country,�
she added.
�I see it as party chair, I absolutely think any candidate should be embracing the president
� and I think Ed did.�
Speaking Wednesday on Breitbart�s �News Daily� program, former White House strategist
Steve Bannon echoed this point but far more bluntly.
�The lesson you can learn (from Ed Gillespie�s loss) is that if you�re going to win, you
have to embrace the entire Trump agenda,� he said, according to RealClearPolitics.
�You have to do it early, and you have to be dedicated to it,� he continued.
�You can�t phone it in.
You�ve got to do rallies, you�ve got to have the president out with you, you have
to go all in with this.�
During an appearance later that evening at the Macomb County Republican Party dinner
in Michigan, as reported by NBC News, Bannon again asserted this point, saying, �One
of the things about the Gillespie campaign is that you can�t fake the Trump agenda.�
Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham has also chimed in.
�Trying to be half in, half out with Donald Trump was never going to work,� she said
Tuesday evening on Fox News.
�If you dip your toe just in a little bit, you�re going to turn out like Ed Gillespie
did, political roadkill.�
The president himself issued a tweet the night of the election, noting that Gillespie �did
not embrace� the president, or his vision for America.
�Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for.
Don�t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record
numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!� Trump wrote.