Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley told Newsmax on Friday that the Democrats' response to President Donald Trump's speech this week to a joint session of Congress shows that "they are in complete free fall" and are "still trying to find a scapegoat for their loss in 2024."
"I thought it was a tour de force," Whatley said of Trump's speech on "Wake Up America." "It really was partially a victory lap and partially a call to arms that recognizes that President Trump is moving forward with the agenda that the American people voted on.
"And yes, it's great to see CBS and CNN and everybody else say that it was a fantastic speech and for people to recognize that the Democrats are in complete free fall right now. They have no ideas. They have nothing that they can push back with other than the antics that we saw on the floor."
Those "antics" included walking out, holding up signs as Trump spoke and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, shouting at the president before being ejected from the House chamber. Whatley said Democrats "continue to show us that they do not have a response."
"They do not have a plan, which is a continuation of the theme that we saw throughout the entire 2024 election cycle," he said. "President Trump ran on a very tight message. He was going to rebuild our economy, restore the southern border, keep our communities safe, and make sure America is strong enough to protect our interests around the world. The Democrats basically came back and said, 'Donald Trump is a terrible human person, and anybody who supports him is garbage.' It's not a winning formula then, it's not a winning formula now."
To return to relevance, Whatley said Democrats must "try and focus on the American people, rather than on their benefactors in the far left and the radical coasts of New York and California."
"The Republican Party under Donald Trump has been a completely remade Republican Party," Whatley said. "We are focused on the working men and women of the United States of America, and we are going to fight for the working men and women, every voter in every state, all across this country, every single day.
"And as long as the Republicans are going to keep that focus, we're going to be able to keep the House, we're going to be able to keep the Senate, and we're going to be able to move forward with Donald Trump's agenda, because that's the mandate that came out of this election."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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