RNC's Ronna McDaniel says impeachment already an "asset" with GOP base
Washington — Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the ongoing impeachment saga has already proven to be an "asset" with the GOP base. McDaniel told "Face the Nation" that the party's fundraising and enthusiasm are strong, despite Mr. Trump becoming the first president to be impeached and run for reelection.
"Well, we're already seeing it as an asset with our base," McDaniel said, suggesting the American people "recognize this hasn't been bipartisan" and Democrats have been "pushing their agenda" against the president.
Together, the RNC and Trump campaign have roughly $200 million cash on hand, she said.
McDaniel said she did not know how much the RNC is paying to cover the president's legal bills, noting that money comes from a separate legal fund and doesn't affect their "ground game" or anything else.
The impeachment trial is expected to wrap up on Wednesday, when the Senate is scheduled to vote to acquit or convict the president at 4 p.m. That will be just hours after the president delivers his State of the Union address in the chamber where the House impeached him.
McDaniel dismissed former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's massive ad spending and upward trend in the polls, despite the president's overnight tweet storm belittling "Mini Mike" and mocking his height. Both Mr. Trump and Bloomberg are airing expensive ads during the Super Bowl.
McDaniel dismissed the overnight tweets, saying, "The president's not afraid of anybody — let's be honest, he punches at everybody."
Despite Bloomberg's virtually unlimited war chest, McDaniel said she's "not concerned about that" and insisted his ads are "terrible." McDaniel recognized that Bloomberg is using some of the same tactics Mr. Trump did, with a strong digital component to his campaign, but said the two are not the same.
"He's modeling it, but he's not Trump," McDaniel said of Bloomberg's tactics, adding the former New York City mayor is not a "movement candidate."
McDaniel also sidestepped a reference to her uncle, Mitt Romney, and his decision to vote for witnesses in the Senate trial. The move prompted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to announce he isn't invited to the annual gathering of conservatives later this month.
"I don't know if you saw that ad but it was your uncle's face there," moderator Margaret Brennan told McDaniel, who dropped "Romney" from her last name around the same time she took over the RNC.
McDaniel claimed she had not seen the CPAC announcement, but said some Republicans are understandably "upset" when fellow Republicans don't back the president.
