Hannity blasts RNC chair: ‘Then go raise the money because otherwise, Republicans won’t compete’

Fox News host Sean Hannity sought on Tuesday to hold Republicans accountable for their poor electoral performance in the past couple of elections.

During a monologue on Fox News’s “Hannity,” he urged the Republican Party to embrace early and mail-in voting.

“In many states, Republicans have been reluctant to vote early and vote by mail. For the people in the great state of Florida, it works out great for them. Why? Because Republicans in Florida have embraced both early voting and voting by mail. Now Republicans around the country need to adopt the same measures if they want to dramatically increase their chances to win,” he said.

He continued by urging the Republican Party to stop nominating unelectable candidates during GOP primaries.

“Another reason that Democrats have been able to consolidate power [is] the politics of abortion. I happen to be pro-life. Many of our viewers watching tonight are also pro-life, but many are not,” he said.

“And when a Republican candidate in a swing state like Pennsylvania makes banning abortion a central focus of their campaign without any exceptions — for example, for rape, incest, or the life of the mother — well, that Republican, politically speaking, is probably going to lose badly and drag the entire party down with them,” he added.

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Later during the segment, he invited former RNC chair Reince Priebus and current RNC chair Ronna McDaniel onto his show to discuss his analysis.

McDaniel immediately tried to claim she agreed with everything Hannity had said, but he wasn’t buying it.

“But Ronna, let me interrupt you if I may. The Democrats are killing the Republicans with early voting and ballot harvesting. They are killing them. Why are Republicans — why are they starting out these races [behind] by 100,000; 250,000; 500,000 votes before election day even starts. Why are they so far behind?” he said.

“Not in North Carolina and not in Florida. Let me say this. There’s two numbers that you also have to point out. Democrats spent $600 million more in soft money in 2022, and the Senate candidates …,” McDaniel started to reply before being cut off.

“Ronna, then go raise the money because otherwise, Republicans won’t compete,” Hannity said.

“That’s all outside groups. And here’s what I’m gonna say. Republicans wait until election year and then they invest. You have to invest now in the process. You cannot wait. We need to be getting people on their permanent absentee voter files in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It takes money. You can’t wait until the candidates are picked. You have to invest in the process,” McDaniel replied.

“By saying that, though, are you acknowledging it’s not happening now?” Hannity responded.

“No, I’m not acknowledging that. We are investing in all these states …,” McDaniel said before being cut off again.

“Investing? But you’re behind the 8-ball. That’s my point,” Hannity replied, prompting a lengthy answer from the RNC chair.

“No, we are not behind the 8-ball. I’m saying we need more money, we need resources. Of course we do. And I will say the Democrats are out-raising us 100% because they invest in process,” she said.

“I talk to voters and donors all the time. They say, ‘I wanna see who the candidate is. I’m gonna wait to see who the nominee is. You have to invest in both – the process and the nominee to get it done,” she added.

Hannity replied by seemingly agreeing with McDaniel’s point but also returning to his own point earlier about unelectable candidates.

“Well, and you can’t put your candidate that doesn’t make exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s life in a state like Pennsylvania,” he said.

He then turned to Priebus, his other guest, and said, “Republicans are being outplayed, outsmarted by Democrats,” after which he asked for the former RNC chair to decide who was right.

“I think you’re both right,” Priebus replied.

The discussion came on the same night that Republicans suffered two major electoral defeats.

“Voters in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday elected Democrat Donna Deegan as the first female mayor in the city’s history. In a shocking upset, Deegan also became the first Democrat to win a Jacksonville mayor’s race in more than 30 years,” according to CBS News.

“Deegan earned 52% of the vote, beating Republican Daniel Davis, according to unofficial results. About 217,000 people voted in the race, for a turnout of 33%,” CBS News reported.

In Colorado Springs meanwhile, a politically unaffiliated “Nigerian immigrant and businessman with no political experience” defeated a Republican in the city’s mayoral runoff race, as reported by The Colorado Sun.

Vivek Saxena

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