Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel believes the GOP can win the 2024 election if they tweak their messaging on abortion and reproductive rights. In the wake of DNC victories in Ohio and Virginia on Tuesday, McDaniel told “Meet The Press” anchor Kristen Welker, “Listen, I’m proud to be a pro-life party, but we can win on this message. The American people are where we are, and they want common sense limitations.”
She added, “They want more access to adoption. We want to make sure that there’s pregnancy crisis centers. These are things we can win on. But we have to talk about it, and you can’t hide in a corner and think abortion’s not going to be an issue.”
McDaniel told Welker she’s “passionate” about the issues around abortion, crediting that to, as she said, “I’m a suburban woman.” She said that she put out a memo to Republican candidates about the issue in 2022. “I think I probably took it more seriously than some others, because I have suburban mom friends — this is my community.”
McDaniel also told Welker that Democrats have made the issue a major part of their 2024 campaigning “because they can’t run on crime, they can’t run on the border, they can’t run on fentanyl.”
The RNC’s losses in Ohio and Virginia should serve as lessons for the party as well. Welker pushed McDaniel on taking responsibility for this week’s elections.
“Some people don’t understand what we do,” McDaniel said. “We’re a turnout machine.”
Ultimately, she added, candidates will have to begin to address the topic of abortion on TV.
Watch the interview with McDaniel in the video above.
