RNC CHAIRWOMAN RONNA MCDANIEL
SUMMER MEETING 2017 GENERAL SESSION
August 25, 2017
NASHVILLE, TN
[REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY]

Good morning! It’s wonderful it is to be here in Tennessee and a big thanks to the Tennessee members, Chairman Scott Golden, Oscar Brock and Beth Campbell for hosting us this week. I also want to send my thoughts and prayers of safety to our members and everyone along the Texas and Louisiana coast and those in the path of Hurricane Harvey.

I want to say thank you to Emily Threadgill and the entire Member Services team for pulling off a fantastic meeting, their first as our Members Services team. Thank you to John Philippe and the Legal team for their continued work to make these meetings run as smoothly as possible. Of course I always have to thank my Co-Chair Bob Paduchik and our officers, Tony Parker, Susie Hudson and Doyle Webb. I also want to thank Robin Hayes who has joined as our newest Chairman of State Chairmen. Thanks to all of our speakers for being here with us. I want to thank my Chief of Staff, Sara Armstrong. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have her because she keeps our team running on all cylinders and we wouldn’t be successful without her, so thank you Sara.

Also thanks to two amazing people Steve King and Sharon Day on their last meeting here with us. They have served our organization well and we wish them the best of luck in their new roles as Ambassadors to the Czech Republic and Costa Rica. Lastly I have to acknowledge my family, I couldn’t do this without you and your support these past seven months.

As Chairwoman, I want you to know that we are better positioned as a committee and a Party today than ever before. The work we do is not easy, but it is essential. We have a Republican White House, majorities in Congress, and a record 34 governorships. You will play a crucial role in keeping our Republican majorities in 2018 and re-electing President Trump in 2020.

Our team is also working around-the-clock. You’ve heard from them all week and I hope you enjoyed your updates. There is no question they are the most talented group of Republican operatives in politics today.

But don’t take my word for it, I’ll let the numbers do the talking.

Thanks to support for President Trump and his Administration, the RNC has raised $86.5 million dollars this year and we have $47 million dollars cash-on-hand. Compared to the DNC who has raised over $41 million dollars and has only $6 million dollars cash-on-hand with $3 million dollars in debt. Our political team is building a robust field and ground game operation in 25 states. Our data team has traveled over 45,000 miles and met with over 2,000 party activists and campaigns. They have generated over 38 billion data points to predict voter behavior. We’ve booked over 2,000 people on the airways to make sure Republicans are hitting back at the biased media. And let’s not forget, we won 4 special elections. We continue to have the best data and ground game in the country.

While Republicans work towards progress, Democrats continue to resist, obstruct and divide. They lack an understanding about the importance of our future. They exclude people who disagree with their extreme Liberal views. If you don’t think like they do, you’re the enemy.

To them, this is just a political game. Ask yourself, what do Democrats stand for? Why is the media ignoring their obstruction, inaction and division? What are they doing to bring this country together? I’ll tell you what they’re doing.  They have resisted President Trump at every turn. They held the first partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in history. President Trump had to wait nearly the longest of any president in 30 years to have his cabinet nominees confirmed. 

Democrats would rather embrace inaction than work together. They continue to put politics above people. Americans are lucky to have a President who is putting America First.

After eight years of feeble leadership under President Obama, Americans finally have a president who is getting things done. We are nominating conservative judges and have put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. We created 1 million new jobs and our unemployment rate is at a 16-year low.

We are getting our veterans the care they rightfully deserve. We are protecting workers and businesses by removing Obama-era, job-killing regulations. We are strengthening our borders and keeping our country safe. We are making America great again.

We have a responsibility to make sure promises made on the campaign trail are promises kept in Washington. Thankfully, our President is leading the way. We must cut taxes, replace Obamacare, and reform our broken tax code.  If we want to return our majorities in 2018, we have to do these things and more. So let our purpose bring us together because unity will bring us victory.

Last week, I joined the President in speaking out strongly against any group that uses hate or violence.

Every day, I wake up proud that we’re the Party of Lincoln. Over one hundred and fifty years ago, a group of ordinary Americans began an extraordinary movement. They vowed to start a new Party.
One that ended the curse of slavery that had spread across our nation. They committed themselves to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Their cause was freedom and they called themselves Republicans.

Since our nation’s founding, the world has looked to America as a beacon of freedom. We are that glimmer of hope to the rest of the world. President Trump said this week, “When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one citizen suffers an injustice, we all suffer together. Loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. Love for America requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. There's no place for bigotry and no tolerance for hate.”

The Republican Party has always stood for liberty and equality. Our Platform reads, “We denounce bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance. Therefore, we oppose discrimination based on race, sex, religion, creed, disability, or national origin and support statutes to end such discrimination. As the Party of Lincoln, we must continue to foster solutions to America’s difficult challenges when it comes to race relations today. We continue to encourage equality for all citizens and access to the American Dream.”

We can’t forget our history, where we came from, and our role in shaping a better future. We hope Democrats will join us in condemning all groups that commit violence and hate. Condemning violence and hate is not Republican or Democrat issue, this is an American issue.

So I ask you to join me, because there is still time to fix what’s wrong with America by re-committing to what’s right with America. We have an opportunity to have a say in our future. A future under President Trump and a nation even stronger under his leadership. Our job is to leave our children and our grandchildren an even better nation than the one our parents left us. To do that, we have to build more than just a bridge –we have to lay the foundation for the future itself.

Four years after he left the White House, Ronald Reagan stood before the Republican National Convention and reminded us: “America’s best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.” He managed in a few short sentences to capture the fundamental principle of the American spirit. Our dreams define us. Our aspirations strengthen us. And our fight for the future energizes us. I am proud to be a Republican, so let’s continue working and building that future together.

Thank you. God Bless each of you and God Bless the United States of America.

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