Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was on defense Sunday in the wake of criticism for losses in several state elections last week.
Conservative critics have long questioned whether she’s the best fit for the job, prompting her to point the finger at individual candidates who lost at the ballot box to Democrats in states like Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“Some people don’t understand what we do. We’re a turnout machine,” Ms. McDaniel said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re not the messaging. That comes from the candidate, and that’s up to them. I’m very proud of our minority outreach the RNC is doing.”
Democrats’ off-year election success was buoyed by abortion access being a core issue in a post-Roe era, a policy Republicans have struggled to find a unified stance on as abortion bans in red states drag down the GOP elsewhere at the ballot box.
Ms. McDaniel advised her party to evolve on its abortion policy messaging but was short on details.
“I’m not a policy person. I know my lane, and we’re going to let the legislators and the senators and congressional members stake their lane out,” she said. “The Democrats are going to make it a national issue, though. And I do think we have to talk about this issue, because the Democrats will say, ’We’re going to take it to the Senate and codify it.’”
“There’s a lot of discussion to be had, but we can’t just say it’s a state’s issue and be done,” she added.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.