‘We’re going to have a problem’: Republicans want Trump to move on from 2020
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
President Donald Trump is bringing back 2020. Many Republicans wish he wouldn't.
Conversations with nearly a dozen GOP state and county chairs and strategists reveal a party largely eager to move on from relitigating Trump’s election grievances, which they’re worried may detract from an economic message that actually motivates voters. But the president won’t let it go, subpoenaing 2020 election records and putting pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation to overhaul voter registration laws.
As Republicans stare down a treacherous midterm landscape, there's a growing view inside the party that focusing on “stolen election” claims and voter fraud will kneecap them in the general election: That messaging might play well with the MAGA base in the primary, but it could alienate moderates tired of rehashing an election from nearly six years ago.
“I’m always one to believe you should look forward, not backward,” said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP strategist and Trump convention delegate who hosted a meeting of fake electors in 2020 at his Harrisburg-based public affairs firm. “It would be better if the midterms focused on the recovery of the economy and all the good things the Republican administration and Congress are doing to move the economy forward.”
In recent weeks, Trump has turned his sights on Maricopa County — Arizona's largest county — subpoenaing records just weeks after the FBI raided an elections office outside Atlanta. He has revisited grievances that the 2020 election was “rigged,” suggested Republicans should nationalize elections and is demanding that lawmakers make passing the SAVE America Act, which would put in place stricter voting requirements, their “No. 1 priority.”
“Part of me understands it, and part of me just wants to move forward,” said Todd Gillman, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party in Michigan.
“Focus on the things that matter to everybody throughout the whole country,” he said, “or we’re going to have a problem in a few months.”
Trump does have backing from a number of Republicans, including some battleground-state GOP chairs who are not only embracing the president’s election probe, but openly encouraging his administration to audit their states’ records as they continue to push allegations of fraud from 2020.
Bruce Parks, the chair of the Washoe County, Nevada, GOP, said he would “absolutely” welcome a probe into his county and Clark County, the two largest in the state. And Jim Runestad, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, suggested a review of records in Detroit, long a focal point of Trump’s 2020 election conspiracies.
“There’s no problem at taking a look at this and making sure everybody’s comfortable,” Runestad said.
Still, others say the risk is that voters simply don’t care — …
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
President Donald Trump is bringing back 2020. Many Republicans wish he wouldn't.
Conversations with nearly a dozen GOP state and county chairs and strategists reveal a party largely eager to move on from relitigating Trump’s election grievances, which they’re worried may detract from an economic message that actually motivates voters. But the president won’t let it go, subpoenaing 2020 election records and putting pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation to overhaul voter registration laws.
As Republicans stare down a treacherous midterm landscape, there's a growing view inside the party that focusing on “stolen election” claims and voter fraud will kneecap them in the general election: That messaging might play well with the MAGA base in the primary, but it could alienate moderates tired of rehashing an election from nearly six years ago.
“I’m always one to believe you should look forward, not backward,” said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP strategist and Trump convention delegate who hosted a meeting of fake electors in 2020 at his Harrisburg-based public affairs firm. “It would be better if the midterms focused on the recovery of the economy and all the good things the Republican administration and Congress are doing to move the economy forward.”
In recent weeks, Trump has turned his sights on Maricopa County — Arizona's largest county — subpoenaing records just weeks after the FBI raided an elections office outside Atlanta. He has revisited grievances that the 2020 election was “rigged,” suggested Republicans should nationalize elections and is demanding that lawmakers make passing the SAVE America Act, which would put in place stricter voting requirements, their “No. 1 priority.”
“Part of me understands it, and part of me just wants to move forward,” said Todd Gillman, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party in Michigan.
“Focus on the things that matter to everybody throughout the whole country,” he said, “or we’re going to have a problem in a few months.”
Trump does have backing from a number of Republicans, including some battleground-state GOP chairs who are not only embracing the president’s election probe, but openly encouraging his administration to audit their states’ records as they continue to push allegations of fraud from 2020.
Bruce Parks, the chair of the Washoe County, Nevada, GOP, said he would “absolutely” welcome a probe into his county and Clark County, the two largest in the state. And Jim Runestad, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, suggested a review of records in Detroit, long a focal point of Trump’s 2020 election conspiracies.
“There’s no problem at taking a look at this and making sure everybody’s comfortable,” Runestad said.
Still, others say the risk is that voters simply don’t care — …
‘We’re going to have a problem’: Republicans want Trump to move on from 2020
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
President Donald Trump is bringing back 2020. Many Republicans wish he wouldn't.
Conversations with nearly a dozen GOP state and county chairs and strategists reveal a party largely eager to move on from relitigating Trump’s election grievances, which they’re worried may detract from an economic message that actually motivates voters. But the president won’t let it go, subpoenaing 2020 election records and putting pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation to overhaul voter registration laws.
As Republicans stare down a treacherous midterm landscape, there's a growing view inside the party that focusing on “stolen election” claims and voter fraud will kneecap them in the general election: That messaging might play well with the MAGA base in the primary, but it could alienate moderates tired of rehashing an election from nearly six years ago.
“I’m always one to believe you should look forward, not backward,” said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP strategist and Trump convention delegate who hosted a meeting of fake electors in 2020 at his Harrisburg-based public affairs firm. “It would be better if the midterms focused on the recovery of the economy and all the good things the Republican administration and Congress are doing to move the economy forward.”
In recent weeks, Trump has turned his sights on Maricopa County — Arizona's largest county — subpoenaing records just weeks after the FBI raided an elections office outside Atlanta. He has revisited grievances that the 2020 election was “rigged,” suggested Republicans should nationalize elections and is demanding that lawmakers make passing the SAVE America Act, which would put in place stricter voting requirements, their “No. 1 priority.”
“Part of me understands it, and part of me just wants to move forward,” said Todd Gillman, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party in Michigan.
“Focus on the things that matter to everybody throughout the whole country,” he said, “or we’re going to have a problem in a few months.”
Trump does have backing from a number of Republicans, including some battleground-state GOP chairs who are not only embracing the president’s election probe, but openly encouraging his administration to audit their states’ records as they continue to push allegations of fraud from 2020.
Bruce Parks, the chair of the Washoe County, Nevada, GOP, said he would “absolutely” welcome a probe into his county and Clark County, the two largest in the state. And Jim Runestad, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, suggested a review of records in Detroit, long a focal point of Trump’s 2020 election conspiracies.
“There’s no problem at taking a look at this and making sure everybody’s comfortable,” Runestad said.
Still, others say the risk is that voters simply don’t care — …
