Former Hewlett Packard CEO and 2016 presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina is reportedly eyeing up a new political run – this time to replace Reince Priebus as chair of the Republican National Committee – although some fear her refusal to back Donald Trump may hurt her chances. The letter, signed by former members both of Congress and RNC staff, said Trump’s actions were “divisive and dangerous” and posed a threat to the party and the country.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that GOP prospects for keeping control of the Senate after the November elections are “very dicey”, sounding an alarm amid mounting Republican concerns about presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“All I have to do is stop funding the Republican Party”, he said in a Fox News interview.
McConnell said Senate Republicans were going to be “on defense” in this year’s election, regardless of who ended up leading the ticket as the party’s presidential candidate, the AP reported.
The billionaire businessman’s loyalists say enough time remains to change the dynamic against Clinton who, like Trump, is deeply unpopular with voters.
McConnell said there are competitive races in states like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Florida and Indiana.
“This is the family trying to fix itself”, said Andrew Weinstein, a former press aide to Senator Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich who works in communications consulting, who is circulating the letter. Those concerns are compelling enough that dozens of anxious Republicans gathered signatures Thursday for a letter urging the GOP chairman to stop helping Trump and focus on protecting vulnerable House and Senate candidates. And yet Trump would like the Republican National Committee to devote its limited resources to funding a get-out-the-vote operation for him inHawaii.
Trump did show some modest improvement as a candidate in the past week. Asked specifically about US citizens, Trump said he didn’t like that President Barack Obama and others wanted to try them in traditional courts rather than military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.
Meanwhile, tension continues to fester in the top ranks of the RNC about how to deal with Trump, according to a GOP official.
Speaking to Time on 9 August 2016, Trump denied the conversation took place, claiming: “Reince Priebus is a terrific guy”.
Another source expressed irritation among staffers at Trump’s on-going faux pas: “What’s bothering people on the campaign is that they feel like they’re doing all the right things, but they’re losing every news cycle to Hillary and there’s nothing they can do about it”.
“It’s so likely that Donald Trump will lose.my entrance into the race doesn’t affect that”, McMullin told ABC’s Martha Raddatz.
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One senior Republican strategist suggested the RNC would need to reconsider its campaign budgets, including its support for Trump, around Labor Day to make the biggest impact in those down-ballot races.
