It's an "amazing development" that President-elect Donald Trump not only won his election Tuesday but also won the popular vote, CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp told Newsmax on Wednesday.
"It hasn't happened since 2004," Schlapp said on "Wake Up America." "It's an amazing development, an amazing campaign, an amazing evening."
As of early Wednesday, Trump was nearly 5 million votes ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris at 70,654,294 to 66,093,585.
"We've just lived through history," said Schlapp. "We're never going to see anything like this ever again. The sad thing is is that one of the components to living through history is how much the socialists wrecked our country, and this is a daunting task to get it back."
Schlapp said he spoke with Trump several times after he lost in 2020 to President Joe Biden, and he said the former president "told me a couple of times he'd only do it if he thought he could really turn it back around."
And that, Schlapp said, "means he's confident that if we make the right steps as a country, we can turn this thing around."
Schlapp further pointed out that Americans "don't have to like him if you're a Democrat or a liberal or whatever, but the Constitution still reigns, and we all need to be able to afford to raise our families."
Marc Lotter, a campaign strategist for Trump's 2016 election, said that Democrats are in "denial" over the loss, and they will have to figure out who to blame.
"[They're] forgetting that they've spent the last 10 years not running for anything but against one man," said Lotter. "The American people last night with a very clear voice said, 'But that one man gave me lower prices, gave me a secure border, had a world that was not at war, and despite whether I like how he tweets or the names he calls people, I can't afford not to vote for him.'"
It's also monumental that Republicans have won back the Senate, said Schlapp, especially considering that J.D. Vance, as the incoming vice president, will be the one to vote to break ties.
"We have two very left-wing senators," GOP Sens. Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said Schlapp. "Once you get to 52-53, which I think we will, you're into the territory where now, Donald Trump can say, 'I want to pick this person to be my cabinet secretary, or I want to pick this person to be on the Supreme Court, but I don't know if I can get him confirmed.'"
Lotter, who is now with the America First Policy Institute, further pointed out that the organization consists of others who were in the last Trump White House and agencies up until the last moments of his presidency, and said they have been doing research and writing draft executive orders since he left in 2020.
"He'll ultimately say, 'I will do this. I won't do that. I want this, I want that,' but the work has already been done and is being done," said Lotter. "That was not the case in 2016."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.