President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager said Mr. Trump has “quite a mandate” to govern after voters not only sent the GOP nominee to the White House, but also returned Republican majorities to the U.S. House and Senate in what she called “the people’s election.”
“I think he’ll be in a little bit of a [hurry] to get things done, and he got a Republican House and Senate to do it with — it’s quite a mandate,” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Ms. Conway also pointed out that Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence won states where the ticket might not have had the support of Republican governors or senators. One of those was Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich, a former 2016 GOP rival, did not support Mr. Trump, nor did Sen. Rob Portman, who easily won re-election Tuesday.
“But they did it because this was a relationship from them to the people, and yesterday you witnessed the people’s election,” she said. “These are the people coming up and expressing their voice, and as an American I couldn’t be happier.”
Ms. Conway said she wasn’t sure if Mr. Trump had spoken yet to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, who supported his party’s presidential nominee but kept his distance during the campaign.
“Not that I’m aware of — I’m not sure,” she said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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