“It is not our power to influence,” he continued.
That the committee will examine the role Trump.
“What we want to do is get into the weeds, have the data to confirm. Or give weight to the assessment that we make,” he said at the time. “It has to be a sincere effort. We can’t gloss over things.
Or it’s not right to do it.”
Their debate echoes a wider rift within the party in which entrenched. Radicals are blamed for the overwhelming midterm results favoring Republicans. In the end, the GOP won a few statewide swing-state races and entered 2023 with only a slim House majority.
Many in the party cited candidate quality as the main reason for underperformance. Others have pointed to parties and outside campaign groups that include. Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake. And Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano — hardliners who have been associated. With Trump’s false electoral claims.
Trump himself blamed the mid-party error on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. As well as hardline debate anti-abortion rights activists. Who called for exceptions to the new ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — a decision made possible by his appointment of three justices to the high court.
RNC committeeman Bill Palatucci of New Jersey, who has criticized Trump. And participated in the review, said that while the effort was “a monumental task.” That was getting underway, he didn’t believe it was too difficult.
To find out what happened last fall.
“I hope we don’t go so deep that we miss the forest for the trees,” he said. “it’s pretty simple. We were a bunch of terrible candidates. I don’t know what else to say .”
Palatucci, who endorsed Dhillon in the chair race, praised Barber. And said the panel discussed “all aspects” of past elections. Including fundraising, candidates, messaging and strategy.
“I said on our conference call with the RNC in November, I would give Rona an A for strategy,” he said. “Where we have a failing grade is messages and messengers. Donald Trump was a terrible messenger.”
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Dhillon said his biggest debate concern is. That the review could take until the summer to come out. Adding that such a timeline is “ridiculous given that we have an active primary season coming up.
“And so I urged the committee, ‘We have to do this ,'” he said. Adding that the July to March deadline for the final report has passed. “there is any shortage of opinion about what went wrong in the 2022 election cycle.
And I could do it in two weeks. To be honest, I already had many reasons.”
In a text message to todaystrend News, Barber said the timeline was still “a work in progress.” And added that March was “the earliest possible date, but it was not out of the question.
“May slip until April, but we generally agree that sooner is better,” he said. “But to be right.”
Barber co-authored the audit, dubbed the “Growth. And Opportunity Project,” after Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential defeat in 2012. Among other conclusions, it called on Republicans to soften their stance on immigration. And adopt a more inclusive posture. The suggestions were cast aside during Trump’s first bid for the White House.
At his Thursday gaggle, Dhillon said the group focused on about a dozen areas of inquiry. And had about 50 members participating in the process.
“We’re not focusing or eliminating any particular thing,” he said. “Things were not directed at us.”
He dismissed concerns about whether Trump.
Could play any role in the panel’s midterm deficit.
“that’s a valid concern,” he said. “Henry Barber is one of the vice-presidents. He is not a fan of the notorious Trump. And so we’ll have a pretty aim report. … When people say candidate quality, some perceive it as a code word for Trump approval. That’s why people are saying it.”
But for his own opinion, Dhillon, who lost to McDaniel in the chair race on Friday. Said it was too “simplistic” to call Trump a midterm loss. But he said the RNC had a role in securing good candidates for the party. — And appeared to take digs at high-profile candidates debate Herschel Walker and Mehmet Oz. Who faced accusations of carpetbagging. Both received Trump’s endorsement and lost. Costing Republican Senate seats in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
“I’m talking about moral and practical leadership and persuasion,” he said. “And that sometimes means going to someone who’s famous and rich and saying. ‘If you’re not in the state, you shouldn’t run for Senate in that state.'”
