(Bloomberg) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley warned against complacency when his party concludes its official nominating jamboree this week with polls predicting ex-President Donald Trump prevailing over President Joe Biden in the November election.
“We are not going to come out of this convention and go into victory lap. We are not going to be overconfident,” he said at a Bloomberg News roundtable in Milwaukee on Tuesday. “There is no such thing as a red wave. We are going to go to work and we’re going to make sure that we deliver this election.”
Speaking alongside RNC co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, Whatley said Republicans are looking to expand their electoral map, targeting young people and low-propensity voters.
Republicans are seizing upon a groundswell of support as they hold their presidential nominating convention this week. Trump made a triumphant entrance at the gathering on Monday, just two days after being shot in the ear by a gunman at a rally in a failed assassination attempt.
Lara Trump said Republicans have expanded their “battleground map” to include Virginia and Minnesota, where they say polling shows they have a chance of flipping states Biden carried in 2020.
“That’s something that you probably would have not have seen Donald Trump do in the past election cycles,” Lara Trump said, also suggesting traditionally Democratic New Jersey as a place where Republicans have narrowed the gap.
Eight years ago, Trump rocked expectations and predictions when he upset Hillary Clinton.
The RNC, after a period of strong fundraising, is expanding operations to reach out to young voters and those who have traditionally been less likely to cast ballots, groups they say could tip the balance in several states.
“We got to figure out a way to dynamite them off the couch and get them involved and get them out to vote,” Whatley said.
He added that Republicans are seeing gains from increased outreach to voters of color, something that is reflected in public polling. Expanding appeal in Black and Latino communities could undercut Biden’s electoral coalition.
Lara Trump said she did not know how the shooting would impact the Republican standard-bearer’s campaigning going forward, but said her father-in-law is determined to continue his signature rallies.
“I can tell you there is no one who wants to get back out to a rally more than Donald Trump himself,” she said. “I can almost guess that he would probably choose to go back to Butler, Pennsylvania,” she added, referring to the site of last Saturday’s shooting.
Trump has already scheduled a rally for Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he’ll be joined by his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance.
--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
