Jan. 8, 2021 - RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Remarks at the RNC Winter Meeting

Calendar | Transition « RNC Winter Meeting

RNC CHAIRWOMAN RONNA MCDANIEL

WINTER MEETING 2021: GENERAL SESSION

JANUARY 8, 2021

AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA

REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Thank you all for being here in Amelia Island, Florida! I want to begin by thanking our Co-Chair Tommy Hicks, who has been a warrior traveling this country far and wide, fighting for freedom in the battle to win over hearts and minds. He is a great partner to work with, and all of us are lucky to have him help lead our Party.

I also want to thank all of our incredible RNC staff, including: Our Finance Chairman Todd Ricketts, Our Chief of Staff Richard Walters, The dedicated Member Services Team of Mariana Herrera, Callie Estes, Sarah Valdez and Madeline Fennell. And I especially want to thank my family – my husband Patrick, and my wonderful children Abigail and Nash.

Before I begin, let me address the terrible events that took place at our U.S. Capitol this week. This committee condemned the violence that occurred in the strongest possible terms. The violence does not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles. Our Founding Fathers established a nation of laws, not a nation of anarchy. It especially hit home with the incredibly frightening bomb scare we had at the RNC on the same day. I want to thank our amazing security team who handled the situation with professionalism and for always working tirelessly to keep us all safe. As the transition of power continues over the next two weeks, I call on individuals to respect law enforcement, law and order, and our great system of governance.

Now, when I began this journey as RNC Chairwoman four years ago, I knew I had big shoes to fill. I also knew I wanted to put my own stamp on the Party and take on big projects that would set us up for success in 2020 and beyond. It goes without saying that when all of us met this time last year, none of us could have imagined everything the coming year would throw at us.

From planning our nominating convention, not once, not twice, but three times to the countless other challenges we faced this past year, 2020 put us all to the test.Of course, the greatest challenge of all has been the loss of friends and family members to this horrific virus. Yet through it all, you never wavered in the face of adversity.

All of you stepped up to the plate and carried out our mission with conviction and because you did, we accomplished so many of the things we set out to do.

We raised the most money ever in the history of our Party. We coalesced around one platform to drive small-dollar donations by launching WinRed. Even in its infancy, WinRed has proven successful beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve raised more than $2 billion in just a year and a half with WinRed – something it took Democrats a full 14 years to do with their small dollar donation platform.

We built the largest political infrastructure ever, talking to more voters, 182 million of them, than any other campaign in history. Our data-driven ground game turned out millions more Republicans than ever, and it set the standard by which future campaigns will be judged.

One of the things I am most proud of is how we stepped up our efforts to engage minority voters and expand our party this election cycle. You can’t win votes if you don’t ask for them, and this cycle we made an unprecedented effort to meet voters where they are and invest in their communities. We opened community centers dedicated to engaging Black, Latino, and Hispanic Americans and amplifying Republicans’ winning message. The nearly 10,000 events our Trump Victory Strategic Initiatives team held this cycle included events aimed at engaging Asian Pacific Americans, Black Americans, and Hispanic Americans. We held our TVLIs in 14 difference languages including Vietnamese, Hindi, Haitian Creole, Hmong and Greek and Portuguese, just to name a few! We dovetailed our community events with an aggressive media strategy that included 2,000 bookings in black media outlets and more than 1,300 interviews for RNC officials and surrogates on Hispanic TV and radio stations across the country.

Our message clearly resonated, and the years-long investment we made was a big part of the reason why President Trump earned the highest share of minority votes for a Republican in 60 years. Over a quarter of his support in this election came from non-white voters. He significantly broadened his base among black voters – winning close to 20% of black men and more than doubling his support among black women. We saw similar trends with Hispanic voters and Asian-Americans. There is no doubt that he has redrawn the political map for our Party and proved we can compete and win in nontraditionally Republican communities.

Building on our minority engagement efforts, we also held a different kind of convention last summer that showcased a more diverse Republican Party. Americans saw that we are the Big Tent Party, a Party the President helped expand and one that now looks more like the rest of America.
While we all are disappointed about races that we lost, we also saw important wins for Republican candidates across the country. Contrary to what every political pundit in the Beltway Bubble was predicting and not so secretly hoping for, no Blue Wave materialized on Election Day.

As we learn every election, candidates matter, and in November Americans elected Republicans with compelling life stories to the House of Representatives. Young Kim and Michelle Steel were both born abroad and knew each other while raising their kids here in America. They saw firsthand how Democrat policies of high taxes combined with crippling government regulations were crushing small businesses and the American Dream in their Southern California communities. They realized they couldn’t afford to sit on the sidelines, and this week they became the first two Korean-American women to be seated in the United States Congress.

For Americans who are sick and tired of hearing about AOC and the rest of the Socialist Squad, we have good news.That’s because we have now have our own squad, the freedom squad, made up of people who know firsthand the perils of socialism in practice.People like Nicole Malliotakis, Carlos Gimenez, Maria Salazar and Victoria Spartz, who will be on the frontlines defending freedom and standing up to Speaker Pelosi’s extreme agenda every single day.

It’s also especially fitting and a point of pride for me that in the year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote – a cause championed by Republicans – our country voted to send a record number of Republican women to Congress. These reasons give me every cause to be confident and optimistic about the future of our Party as we begin a new year. Yet, while we were encouraged by our track record in competitive House and other down ballot races, we are certainly disappointed with results elsewhere. I’ve said it a few times this week, but I am pissed about losing in critical elections.

We have a lot of hard work to do to take back the Senate and the House in 2022, but I am telling you right now it must happen and I am committed to getting it done. We are not going to cede our country to the far-left who want to turn us toward socialism, institute a Green New Deal, and remake America as we know it. So, get ready, buckle your seatbelt, we have much more to accomplish.

Before I end, I want to say how proud I am to serve in this role as RNC Chairman at this pivotal point in our nation’s history. RNC Chairs have included governors, Speakers of the House, Senators and even a future President. I will always be grateful to President Trump and all of you for believing in me and giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. I love the RNC and everything it stands for. The RNC is the steady ship in the storm, and we are there for our candidates when they need us. It is now up to us to keep the ship on course, and together we are building an institution that is stronger than ever.
I also love the opportunity to work with each and every one of you. People who take on the sacrifices being an RNC Member entails, and do it joyfully because you believe in all your heart the causes and values we are fighting for.

Most of all, I love the RNC because it gives me an opportunity in some small way to give back to the country we all love. And because this land of liberty we are lucky to call home is still worth fighting for, let us not grow weary in doing good as Scripture teaches, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Thank you again for being willing to step up and serve as RNC Members.May God Bless you and your families, and may God continue to bless the United States America.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED DURING THE 2021 WINTER MEETING:

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RESOLUTION ENSURING THE PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A FAIR, LEGAL, AND ACCURATE ELECTION

WHEREAS, An election process that is open, secure, and has integrity is essential for a representative republic;

WHEREAS, The right to vote, and to have that vote count and not be cancelled, is a fundamental civil right;

WHEREAS, Democrats and allied organizations, through scores of lawsuits, partisan regulatory oversight, and executive fiat in key states across the nation sought and implemented changes to our election processes that undermined the security and integrity of our election systems;

WHEREAS, Last minute changes to election processes without the constitutionally mandated involvement of state legislatures had the effect of making voter fraud both easier to commit and harder to detect and prove;

WHEREAS, Procedural irregularities, flagrant violations of laws providing for bipartisan oversight, fraud, and unexplained anomalous results undermine faith in the integrity of the election;

WHEREAS, State legislatures are empowered by the Constitution to regulate presidential elections, but these laws must be clearly established before the election begins and honestly implemented in order to ensure each United States citizen’s legal vote counts and is not cancelled by an illegal vote; and

WHEREAS, It is essential to national security that votes be accurately recorded and that our election systems and technology be secure and protected from manipulation; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, The Republican National Committee (RNC) calls for each state legislature to review election processes as they were implemented in the 2020 election and reform election processes to ensure that each United States citizen’s legal vote counts;

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RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE UNPRECEDENTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP IN HIS FIRST TERM

WHEREAS, President Donald Trump’s bold leadership has resulted in greater protection of the unborn, protection of religious liberty, deregulation benefitting small businesses, a strong economy before the pandemic and a rapid recovery afterward, border protection, removal of dangerous terrorist leaders, support of law enforcement, respect for our Constitution, a historic number of judicial appointments, including three Supreme Court justices, America-first foreign and trade policies, energy independence, protection of Israel, and Middle East peace treaties never before possible;

WHEREAS, President Trump’s steadfast and positive leadership was crucial during the outbreak of COVID-19 in America and has also resulted in an acceleration of vaccine development, normally slowed by excessive regulation, which holds promise to help end the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in China and spread around the world; and

WHEREAS, Over the first four years of this successful administration the Republican National Committee (RNC) has supported the President’s policies and accomplishments with27 unanimous resolutions of commendation and support passed; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the RNC enthusiastically and unconditionally commends President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and the administration on the vast number of unprecedented accomplishments domestically and globally in just four short years; and

RESOLVED, The RNC continues to support President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence until such time as a lawful transition of power is consummated.

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RESOLUTION THANKING TRUMP SUPPORTERS AND GRASSROOTS VOLUNTEERS ACROSS THE NATION

WHEREAS, Voter confidence and participation in the electoral process are essential;

WHEREAS, Historical records were set with over 74 million votes for a sitting president;

WHEREAS, Republicans and patriots supported President Donald Trump throughout the election, and have stood with President Trump in unprecedented post-election marches, prayer gatherings, and parades in multiple states across the country and in the District of Columbia in an effort to “Stop the Steal”;

WHEREAS, Thousands of grassroots Republicans offered to serve as precinct workers or volunteered as poll watchers to help ensure ballot security;

WHEREAS, Americans served on local election committees to verify and count absentee and mail-in ballots, and to challenge ballots when necessary;

WHEREAS, Attorneys across the nation volunteered their time and talents to investigate, raise concerns, expose, and testify when ballot issues were discovered;

WHEREAS, Americans, both Republican and non-Republican, have spent their own money and expended resources to bring transparency and expose weaknesses in our election infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, Republican National Committee (RNC) members, the Trump legal team, business leaders, and ordinary Americans continue to fight to expose election irregularities in key battleground states and have warned fellow citizens of the danger should our electoral process be jeopardized; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the RNC applauds these Americans who have stood with President Trump in support of accurate and transparent elections, worked to expose credible evidence of fraud in battleground states, and documented statements in sworn affidavits;

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RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO CURB BIG TECH’S CENSORSHIP

WHEREAS, According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of American adults believe that it is very or somewhat likely that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints;

WHEREAS, According to the same study, 69 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats believe that social media companies are biased towards liberal viewpoints;

WHEREAS, The influence that Big Tech social media companies have on American political life has surpassed that of traditional media;

WHEREAS, During the 2020 election, Facebook and Twitter censored the New York Post bombshell revealing that Hunter Biden was under federal investigation in connection with his foreign business dealings; and

WHEREAS, Such censorship is an unacceptable danger to our free society; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee supports free and fair access to information and believes that Big Tech companies should be held accountable for their censorship; and

RESOLVED, That Congress should review existing law, including the Sherman Antitrust Act, and enact such legislation as necessary to prohibit Big Tech companies from censoring or otherwise restraining the dissemination of First Amendment-protected speech.

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RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES TO TEACH TRADITIONAL JOURNALISM AND OBJECTIVE, FACT-BASED REPORTING

WHEREAS, In the 2020 “Resolution Regarding the Republican Party Platform,” the Republican National Committee (RNC) upheld that, “The media has outrageously misrepresented the implications of the RNC not adopting a new platform in 2020 and continues to engage in misleading advocacy for the failed policies of the Obama-Biden Administration, rather than providing the public with unbiased reporting of facts”;

WHEREAS, Journalists and news anchors in America’s mainstream media continue to advocate the Left’s failed, liberal policies and no longer present the American public with objective journalism;

WHEREAS, A 2019 study published by the RAND Corporation entitled, “News in a Digital Age: Comparing the Presentation of News Information over Time and Across Media Platforms,” found that print journalism has modestly shifted to more subjective reporting, television news has seen a greater shift to “subjectivity, conversation, and argument,” and online journalism features a “subjective kind of advocacy”;

WHEREAS, A 2016 study published in Econ Journal Watch found that Democrat journalism professors outnumber Republicans by 20 to one and Democrat professors outnumber Republicans by a number of nearly 12 to one;

WHEREAS, American universities, regardless of the political affiliations of their faculty, should be dedicated to journalism’s original intent of being the “Fourth Estate,” which should serve as a watchdog, rather than lapdog of government or political parties;

WHEREAS, Universities have purposely diluted core curricula that encourage objective journalism, with, for example, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill eliminating core requirements, such as Economics 101 and U.S. History from 1865 to Present, and replacing them with electives, such as Survey of Costume History and Supernatural Encounters: Zombies, Vampires, Demons, and the Occult in the Americas;

WHEREAS, The elimination of these key courses and the overwhelming liberal bias in American academia ill-prepares journalism majors to competently report on important topics, such as the macroeconomic effects of a government spending bill or the historical context of current events in the United States;

WHEREAS, The RAND Corporation found that the subjectification of America leads to “Truth Decay,” a phenomenon that erodes civil discourse, causes political paralysis at the federal and state level, and spurs individual disengagement from political and civic life; and

WHEREAS, “Truth Decay” and lack of confidence in a free, objective American press erodes our fundamental values here in the United States; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the RNC encourages universities across the United States to teach objective, fact-based reporting, rather than continuing to degrade American institutions with liberal bias and furthering the phenomenon of “Truth Decay”; and

RESOLVED, That the RNC further encourages America’s universities to create curricula that teach future journalists to avoid personal commentary, emotionalism, polemics, and partisanship at all costs.

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RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE “KEEP NINE AMENDMENT” TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

WHEREAS, The United States Constitution provides no specific instruction for the number of justices that constitute the Supreme Court of the United States;

WHEREAS, For over 150 years, the Supreme Court has consisted of nine justices;

WHEREAS, During the nation’s history, Congress has changed the number of justices, both increasing and decreasing, seven times prior to 1869 for the purpose of gaining political advantage for a then- current political position;

WHEREAS, The practice of “packing the Court” for political advantage greatly decreases confidence that the Supreme Court exists as an essential element of America’s system of checks and balances, which guarantees and protects a citizen’s constitutional rights;

WHEREAS, In order to prevent all attempts by the legislative and/or executive branches of government to change the number of Supreme Court justices, the “Keep Nine Amendment” to the United States Constitution has been proposed, which simply states: “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine Justices”;

WHEREAS, The “Keep Nine Amendment” was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 76 in the United States Senate on October 19, 2020, by Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and is now sponsored and/or supported by numerous United States Senators and Senators-elect, including Senators John Boozman (AR), Bill Cassidy (LA), Susan Collins (ME), Tom Cotton (AR), Steve Daines (MT), Joni Ernst (IA), Chuck Grassley (IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Mike Lee (UT), Kelly Loeffler (GA), Cynthia Lummis (WY), David Perdue (GA), Rob Portman (OH), Thom Tillis (NC), Tommy Tuberville (AL), and Roger Wicker (MS);

WHEREAS, The “Keep Nine Amendment” was introduced as House Joint Resolution 95 in the House of Representatives on September 24, 2020, with bipartisan sponsorship by then-Representatives Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA), with co-sponsors Mo Brooks (R-AL5), Michael San Nicolas (D-GU-At Large), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA1), and Ken Buck (R-CO4);

WHEREAS, A number of former state attorneys general oppose “packing the court,” and recent polls have shown that voters support a “Keep Nine Amendment” by more than a three to one margin;

WHEREAS, Democrats have refused to remove packing of the Supreme Court from consideration; and

WHEREAS, If Democrats are ever successful in gaining control of all three branches of government, the introduction of the “Keep Nine Amendment”, and its popularity among Americans, should serve as a check to this self-serving chicanery; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee (“RNC”) goes on the record in support of the pending “Keep Nine Amendment” as filed in the United States Senate and House of Representatives with wide Republican support; and

RESOLVED, That copies of this RNC resolution be sent to all Republican members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, governors, state constitutional officers, state attorneys general, and state legislatures.