Reasoned analysis on campaign strategy from a former administration official earned Trump’s ire as the former president unloaded on the “RINO” advice.
(Video: Fox News)
With two of 50 primary contests in the books, the “presumptive candidate” designation for former President Donald Trump has moved away from conjecture leaving many prepared to shift into gear on the general election. However, a breakdown of the data on how Trump walked away from New Hampshire with a nearly 12-point win over former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley was ill-received by GOP leader.
Joining Fox News host Jesse Watters as the president was readily declared the winner of Tuesday’s contest, White House press secretary turned Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany continued her consideration of “tone” as she unpacked the data about the outcome of her one-time boss.
The commentary and analysis evidently irked the Republican figure on his third go-around at the White House as he took to Truth Social to vent, “I don’t need any advice from RINO Kayleigh McEnany on Fox. Just had a GIANT VICTORY over a badly failing candidate, ‘Birdbrain,’ and she’s telling me what I can do better. Save your advice for Nikki!”
Whether sincere or feigning ignorance, Watters prompted McEnany to explain how resounding victories throughout the primaries for Trump could spell doom in the general election with the result reversed for Haley.
“President Trump,” began McEnany, “I would go home tonight, I’d go to my victory party, I would celebrate, I’ve made history yet again. But then I’d go home and I’d look under the hood. And when you look under the hood of our Fox News voter analysis data, you find that 32 percent of Republicans say, ‘We won’t vote for Trump.'”
“‘I’ve got to unite the party,’ that’s the analysis Nikki Haley is making,” she continued as she presented the ambassador’s win with independents 59 to 33. “So I go home, if I’m Trump, I celebrate. And then I say, ‘I gotta unite this party. I gotta win independents. That’s how I beat Biden.'”
Prior to Tuesday’s vote, McEnany had encouraged much the same as she addressed, “Where I think [Trump’s] challenge is both here and going forward into a general election, is winning over the Nikki Haley voter, winning over the establishment voter, winning over the independent, which is why I think that vice presidential pick is so important. You must pick someone who helps to bring in that bloc because I believe the conservatives, the base, is going to come home, show up rain or shine. You need independents. You need the suburban women. You need that tone.”
Kayleigh McEnany offers specific tip on what Trump needs to do to beat Biden https://t.co/lvwOoAip1S via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) January 22, 2024
Later Tuesday, McEnany reacted directly to Trump’s victory speech where he had said, “The party is very united except for her. The party is very united and we’re looking forward to going against the worst president in the history of our country,” as he urged Haley to suspend her campaign.
“This speech was a speech to dispose of the last remaining competitor, if you could call it that,” the host said on a Fox News panel. “She’s still significantly behind him. He’s pulling a majority support.”
“But to get her out of the race, I would suggest that adopting a general election tone is what you do at this point. And here’s why I say this. This was actually a fairly good night for Joe Biden. When you look at our voter analysis, only 10% said ‘I would not vote for Joe Biden if he’s the nominee.’ He won a plurality of voters who said he was too old. He won a majority of voters who are upset about the Gaza war,” she laid out. “So the divides in the Democrat Party, and this is a small sample size, but perhaps aren’t as stark as one would think.”
“But when you look at the Republican Party, 7 in 10 Nikki Haley voters said ‘I would not vote for Trump.’ There was a Des Moines Register poll. 43% said, no, I wouldn’t vote for Trump,” presented McEnany. “If I’m Trump, I sit back and I exclusively focus on the general election. I take the posture of a presumptive nominee. I focus on number one, uniting the party and number two, winning the independents.”
Dismissive of the concerns, Watters contended that those saying they were against Trump now would have a change of heart by November but was less prepared to believe those in favor of Trump now would be willing to accept Haley as the running mate on the ticket.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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