Ronna McDaniel predicts E. Jean Carroll verdict will not hurt Trump in 2024

Misty Severi

May 09, 07:52 PM May 09, 07:52 PM

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel predicted that Tuesday's verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case against former President Donald Trump will not hurt his chances in 2024.

McDaniel claimed that because the election was so far away, voters would not want to hear about the verdict or any other legal problems the former president faces by the time of the Republican primaries in March.

TRUMP 2024 GOP RIVALS LARGELY TIPTOE AROUND SEXUAL ASSAULT VERDICT

“I think we’ve got a long way until the primary process begins,” McDaniel told WHD News host Martha MacCallum. “We’ve got debates in August. As a suburban woman myself, I think a lot of women right now are looking at the Biden administration and saying, ‘Our kids are still struggling in school. Our kids are being used as pawns on TikTok as China is gathering their data.”

McDaniel listed topics like inflation, high crime rates, border issues, and gas prices as topics that will still be relevant ahead of the election next year that would be bigger concerns to voters than Trump's legal battles.

"People want closure, they want to move on, and they want to talk about what is happening in their lives," McDaniel said. "I think a lot of Americans want the focus to come back to them and the issues that matter in their lives. They don't want to see ... investigation after investigation after investigation that we have now seen for over six years."

The GOP leader's comments come after a jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million to Carroll, who claimed the former president raped, sexually abused, and defamed her. The jury ruled that Trump was liable for the defamation and sexual abuse but not for the rape allegation.

The standard for the jury to make the determination in civil cases, the preponderance of the evidence, is lower than in criminal court, where the jury must find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Tuesday's verdict is only the latest in a series of legal issues pending against Trump. He is also facing a civil lawsuit against himself and his company for fraud and is being investigated for possibly obstructing the investigation into the classified records recovered from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He has also been indicted on 34 charges related to the alleged falsifying business records for hush money payments he had paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump will be appealing Tuesday's verdict, a statement from the former president's campaign said.

‘Don’t like this’: RNC chief Ronna McDaniel eschews blaming Trump for midterm woes

Ryan King

December 12, 01:08 PM December 12, 01:08 PM

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel refrained from blaming former President Donald Trump for the GOP's midterm drubbing on Monday, insisting she's "not into the blame game right now."

Underscoring how many Trump-backed candidates, such as Sens.-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Ted Budd (R-NC), won their respective races, McDaniel stressed that the party has still not fully grappled with the ramifications of the overturn of Roe v. Wade and that it's too early to assign blame.

RNC’S RONNA MCDANIEL IDENTIFIES 'MASSIVE' REASON FOR MIDTERM LOSSES

"I don't like this. I don't like these parceling out because he supported Ted Budd, who won, and he supported J.D. Vance, who won. I think there's a lot of things — that's why I put together an after-action report," McDaniel told Fox Business's Stuart Varney when pressed if Trump played any role in some of the GOP's midterm losses. "We should be talking about the amount of ticket-splitting."

Pondering why many voters opted for one Republican and not another, McDaniel contended the party needs to work to counter that in the future. An analysis from a Republican firm found that split-ticket voting helped spell doom for Republicans in the midterm elections, in which they dramatically underperformed expectations. McDaniel has also blamed the rampant split-ticket voting for the party's midterm ails.

This was apparent in Georgia, where Republican Gov. Brian Kemp won handily while Senate Republican contender Herschel Walker suffered a narrow loss.

At one point, Varney interjected and asked if Trump was the impetus for voters splitting their votes, but McDaniel refused to go there.

"I'm saying I'm not into the blame game right now. I think we've got to do an analysis. I think it's too quick," she shot back. "This infighting within our party is never going to help out."

A chorus of Republicans such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others, have thrown shade at Trump for the lackluster midterm performance, implying his brashness has been off-putting to independent voters. Some, such as Christie, have also accused Trump of elevating weaker candidates in the primary cycle.

Trump debuted his 2022 campaign last month and has shrugged off such criticisms.

McDaniel is embroiled in a battle for another term atop the RNC amid simmering frustrations over the party's midterm performance and coziness with Trump. Outgoing Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) bowed out of the race, but McDaniel is still facing a challenge from California lawyer Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.