New Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley told New York Republican Party figures Thursday night that he wants more Republicans to vote early by mail ahead of the November election. — despite criticism of Donald Trump’s approach so far.
“To win votes, we need to be committed to registering new Republican voters,” Whatley said at the New York Republican Committee’s annual gala in Manhattan.
“We will use our technology and advances in digital data to target and interact with these voters.”
Trump, 77, has called mail-in voting “totally corrupt” as early voting surged four years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, helping propel President Biden to the top. attacked.
The 45th president has said in recent weeks that voting by mail would lead to “fraud,” and at a rally earlier this week he promised Wisconsinites he would make the election “secure” with “one-day voting.”
But Whatley said Thursday night that he “doesn’t care” how people vote, as long as they vote Republican.
“More than 50% of all voters in the United States, including Republicans and independents, plan to vote by Election Day,” he said. “We have to talk to them before they vote. We need to build a national early voting program that communicates through door knocks, phone calls, mail, digital and data. Yes, but you can’t wait until a week before the election.
“Voters can vote early. They can vote on Election Day or they can vote by mail. Do I care how they vote? No, I don’t. Whatley added that the RNC would “recruit hundreds of thousands of volunteers” to have five-minute conversations with voters.
The RNC had previously discussed plans to target potential early voters in states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“This will be the first time we have early voting in Michigan, so we’re going to take advantage of it,” an RNC official told reporters at a press conference last week. “Voting by mail is not that old in Pennsylvania, and we will have an opportunity to expand it. Ballot harvesting is legal in Nevada under certain circumstances, so we will take advantage of that. .”
Whatley, who assumed the chairmanship with former President Trump’s support after the former president ousted Ronna McDaniel, joked about his appointment at the RNC on Thursday.
“Let me tell you a little funny story, when President Trump first called and told me about the RNC takeover, someone at the RNC asked me, [spring] Meeting… “What was it like when President Trump called you and asked you to do this?” he declared.
“I said, ‘He didn’t do that,'” Whatley continued.
“Wait, what? Didn’t he call you?” he continued, explaining the other side of the conversation.
“I said, ‘Oh, he called, but he didn’t ask,'” Whatley concluded to laughter from the audience.
Mr. Whatley, backed by President Trump, was unanimously elected chairman at a meeting in Houston last month with no opposition.
RNC members told the Post that the election outcome was essentially predetermined, given the known preferences of the likely Republican candidates.
Trump also named his daughter-in-law, Lara, as co-chair and his top adviser, Chris Lacivita, as RNC chief of staff.
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment from the Post.
