Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 20240704

New state chairman and congratulate on his election, Pete Hoekstra from the state of michigan. Welcome. Republican National Committee. I want to congratulate the many new National Committee members that have been. Today, American Samoa is the 25th state to cast votes in the republican process thank you for your hard work to send our candidate donald j. Trump to the white house and with that, join me in thanking President Trump for his work for our party and country and we recognize for the overwhelming success he has achieved 90 of republican dell gates and not only our presumptive nominee but the next president of the United States. [cheers and applause] good morning fellow republicans, how are you . Are you proud to be republicans today . Fantastic. Thank you all so much for everything you all do for our party and state level, National Level and hours and resources you put in to do everything you do because you know just as i do that this matters, this makes a difference. This is important. I think we all agree here we live in the most blessed country, would you agree. And we have this wonderful thing in this country called selfgovernment and gives us the opportunity to get involved and make change, but the first part of that phrase is the most important part of that phrase. Selfgovernment. Thats why we show up and get involved because we care, because as a member of this body, friend of ours said peron ellis policy and peron ell matters and if policy is important, that means the peron ell are important and that means the elections are important and that means what we do here is important. State level, local level, National Level, everything that we are making from Campaign Finance laws to election laws, you name it. It Still Matters and we do it right and we Work Together and makes a bigger difference. This is not a spectator sport. In South Carolina we won in four districts we hadnt won before. Deep blue territory. We got people engaged and showed them that it matters. We showed them what our party believes and we get that message across and we can win. What we have to remember, blue states, red states, etc. , nothing is permanent in politics. Nothing is permanent. There are no permanent red states. There are no permanent blue states, cities, counties, all there is the next election. Were one election away in the red state and having problems. Youre one election away in a blue state and being able to celebrate. What do we think of the people standing next to us at work or at church and getting them involved to be successful. You dont win, you cant govern. You cant govern if you dont win. Those who lost dont get a phone call asking them what the tax rates ought to be or whether or not c. R. T. Should be in the schools or d. E. I. And run down the alphabet soup we deal with today. They dont get those phone calls. We have to win. Losers dont make policy. I hate losing. Told you a year ago, i hate losing more than i hate watching the lifetime channel. I hate losing. Our job is to win. Would you agree with that . Our job is to win. Winning is about preparation. What are we doing to prepare ourselves to win . We have fundamentals we talk about all the time, our message, how we get our message across and how we help people understand our message is relevant to them, that it matters, the manpower and organization we have to put together will actually turn out the votes we need to win and raising the money to make the first two things possible. Thats it. Those are the fundamentals of our job. Sometimes its easy for us to get distracted with other things that dont have anything to do with those fundamentals. Thats our job. To ruthlessly focus on those things. Then we have to build a team to make that possible. Thats why were here today. Politics is about building a winning team. Sometimes you need new people on the team. You have to bring in new folks to get the job done. So if as i assume, the chair election makes me ineligible to serve as cochair, then i will resign my position as cochair. But ill still be here. Im not going anywhere. Ill still be here to work with each and every one of you in any way i can to help you and to make sure that we win up and down this ballot and we keep the house and win the senate and win the white house by putting donald j. Trump back in as president of the United States. Can we get excited about that . Thank you all so much, god bless you. Thank you, drew. Good morning and welcome to houston. I love this city and i hope you have all seen why weve chosen this city to host our 2028 Republican National convention. It is a little bittersweet to be with you as i step down as chair after seven years of working with you all. To elect republicans up and down the ballot. 10 years on the committee. As you know i have a tendency to get emotional sometimes. I have a bet that i wont, so its a big bet and im going to really work hard not to. But i need to start with my thank yous and i want to get that out of the way. I want to thank all of you, thanks to the entire committee, the r. N. C. , the volunteers, all of you leaders in your state. Thanks for all youve done and thank for you voting for me a record four times. I appreciate you more than you know. Youre my family. We dont always agree but we agree on the vision for our country and know were doing the right thing to protect the American People so thank you. I want to thank the many, many not many, many, the men who served as cochair during my cochair, bob from ohio and tommy hecks and drew mckissic, lets thank him again from South Carolina. I want to thank the r. N. C. Staff, and youll see them around this room. A lot of them are here for the past seven years. These are young, bright, individuals who come to d. C. And work in the field because they love our party and love our country and they get their start in our building and theyre phenomenal and we couldnt do it without them. Please join me in thanking the r. N. C. Staff. Along with all of them, i want to thank the two men who served as my chief of staff while i was chair, Richard Walters and mike freed, theyre phenomenal and appreciate you so much. Thank you. And of course you all know the chairmans office, the schedulers and women who traveled with me and worked so hard. Theyre in the states with you, i couldnt do without them. They know our family. Shannon fisher who is not here, emma connell, Taylor Rogers and emil who just got engaged, emily. We could not have been successful without our fantastic finance chairs who are also volunteers who give so much time and ive been blessed to have three finance chairs in steve wynn and todd and thank you to all of you. I also want to thank President Trump. For giving me this historic opportunity after his win in 2016 and tapping me to be only the second woman in history to lead the republican National Committee. My mom is here today, ronna romney and my stepdad, bruce. Hi, guys. Thank you for everything. Weve got a lot of family watching online and our kids arent here but i really want to give a shoutout to abigail. You saw them when they came in, they were 11 and 13 when i started this job and theyre the cutest kids still but just were in awe of all of you. You were so wonderful and they spent part of their lives, they love you. Abigail is on study abroad in london, her birthday, International Womans Day is her birthday, happy birthday, abigail, we love you. Nash is in school and could care less whats going on here but thank you. And my husband patrick who is right back there. I get emotional. Im back with you, though. Patrick is amazing, when President Trump and the team came to me to do this job seven years ago, i said no. And patrick turned to me and said, honey, we can do anything for two years. Its only seven years later. Hes the most amazing man and husband. As women and moms who work and on the road and do these things, your kids, when theyre at the baseball game youre missing, they dont care youre on air force i with the president and they notice their moms not there but pat was always there. Pat is an amazing person. I love you, honey. Happy 25th anniversary. Pats going to be seeing a lot more of me now. As this chapter ends in my life, ive had so much time to reflect on what weve accomplished in the last seven years and hope youll indulge me as i go through some of the amazing achievements weve made as a committee. When i won this gavel seven years ago, i had a vision that youve all supported to grow this party. We need to be bringing more people into the party because we know what we stand for is right. So im going to talk about some of the ways we did that. First, we grew in our communications to voters. We grew our email list from three million to 50 million subscribers. We finally launched an online small dollar fundraising platform to compete with at blue. We were trounced by the democrats over and over again for 15 years and finally we did it. On that platform weve raised 1. 5 billion and brought in 2. 5 million new donors into our party. In the last midterm the r. N. C. Had 2. 9 million contributions which were the most given in the history of the r. N. C. And organized a texting house file and didnt even exist previously because technology changed and become our highest grossing net revenue channel. We launched the grow program to help strengthen our state party. Many dont know but you do. We customize how to help you be successful in your state and its been a tremendous success. One of my favorite opportunities as chair was to go to israel to open the embassy in jerusalem under the leadership of President Trump. It was another honor to bring on the Republican Jewish Coalition as a partner in our debate last november, the first time in history either party partnered with a Jewish Organization for a president ial debate. We got into the Election Integrity space for the first time in 40 years because we couldnt, we were under Consent Decree and put attorneys on the ground and put in poll watchers to ensure fair elections. Our Communications Team who is great, they run the white houses least favorite x twitter account, x account and its called r. N. C. Research, joe biden hates it and cant stand it and they find the pictures of him on the beach in delaware and all the things he does and is holding him accountable and why hes one of the least popul facn history. Something im most proud of that you know is near and dear to my heart is investment and engaging minority voters and bringing them into our party. For too long our parties have ignored and creeded these he votes. And we stopped dropping in before the election and opened sustained invested Community Centers and minority communities and its changed our party. In 2022, we went up 17 points with asian voters, 1 points with hispanic voters and four points with black voters. Our policies work. When we take it to these communities, they vote with us and they are becoming republican. The r. N. C. Places such a vital the r. N. C. Plays such a vital role. A lot of people do tv but were the nuts and bolts and the infrastructure and the turn out the votes and were the committee everyone depends on to turn out republicans across the country. In 2022, we won the popular vote by four million votes and would have won the Electoral College had it been a president ial cycle because of this organizations turnout operation which yes, did include ballot harvesting in states like nevada and california. I like to say we build the road and all the cars drive on it. You need a good road and great cars to get to your destination. The road we make up, the infrastructure we put together activates volunteers who knock doors and make phone calls and get every single republican to cast their vote for our candidate. At the end of the day, were not the ones driving on the road. The candidates and the campaign decide where they go and not every candidate in 2022 made it to their destination. I want to talk about this only because its pivotal as we head into 2024 to understand what candidates should have done in 2022 to win. First, we cannot put our head in the sand and ignore abortion and the Dobbs Decision. Many of our candidates chose to ignore this issue and not talk about it. And the r. N. C. Was a leading issue urging candidates to talk about this issue head on. Go figure. Im a suburban mom and might have some opinions on this issue. I authored a memo in the summer of 2022 highlighting how we win on this issue when voters are faced with the decision between a republican that supports exceptions and reasonable limitations when a baby feels pain and a democrat who supports no exceptions, no limits, not even when a baby feels pain. Too many candidates and specifically their consultants scoffed at this advice and ended up paying the price on election day. In 2022, candidates mattered. Candidates always matter. But the candidates who won were able to articulate a message on abortion and also attract and win swing and independent voters. Well have to replicate that if were going to win in 2024. Our winning candidates realize we cant win by just speaking to an echo chamber of republicans. We dont win if we only talk to each other. We have to go out and engage independent and swing voters and sell them on our vision for this country. Additionally over the last seven years, we have elected the most republican women to congress in history. And as only the second woman to ever chair the r. N. C. In our entire 168year history, thats a feat im incredibly proud of. We also in 2018 bucked the odds and picked up senate seats. In 2020 we picked up 15 house seats. In 2021, in a purple state joe biden just won we elected millions and elected glenn lumpkin. And my mousse proud moment was in 2022 when we won back the house and finally fired nancy pelosi. And we accomplished all this while going through a russia hoax investigation, two impeachments, a once in a lifetime Global Pandemic and a Dobbs Decision that flipped the script on a 2022 election. They say campaigns are like a marathon but i view 2024 more like a relay race. The work of everyone in our headquarters and in the field have put me in a position to hand the baton off to a new chair with a lead. The state of our party is strong. Over the last year, the r. N. C. Has been building the road for our eventual eventual nominee, donald j. Trump. Weve made our own division for the first time in history and today we are engaged in 78 lawsuits in 23 states. This is critical to protecting our elections and we spent a lot of money on it and think its the right thing for the r. N. C. To be doing. I just did a podcast with josh helm, the head of our Election Integrity division where we went over the few of our losses. In arizona they put together a manual to undermine Election Integrity and to allow noncitizens to vote. That is why we sued. Finally, we launched the bank your vote initiative. You all heard me talk about this a lot. Please indulge me when i talk about it one more time. We need voters to bank their vote and vote early. We cannot continue letting democrats run up the score in critical states and we just wait to vote on election day. You all know im a huge football fan, right. We all know michigan won the National Championship this year. Yes. Go blue. You cannot win a Football Game if you only start scoring in the fourth quarter. We all know this. If republicans succeed in getting republicans to vote early and ballot harvests were legal, donald trump will win in november. It really is that simple. We launched a website for all 56 states and territories in 16 different languages to inform voters where to vote, how to vote, how do you get your ballot, how do you request a absentee ballot, how do you track your ballot, where is the polling station . Its krill catcalled bankyourvote. Com. We cant make it successful alone. It will take every one of you and take candidates up and down the ballot supporting this and its going to take our nominee working with the r. N. C. To educate the voter why they need to bank their vote early. Weve hired Election Integrity and political state directors in 15 battleground states, including important house and Senate States like arizona, new york, and montana. Our Political Team has invested in opening minority Community Centers in states like North Carolina, texas, california, and new york and our teams in the field have already contacted 3. 5 million voters across the country. We just posted our best fundraising of the cycle in january when we raised 12 million and followed it up with february raising nearly 11 million. Our january and february reporting will be the best two months of fundraising the r. N. C. Has ever had when we did not occupy the white house. Im going to repeat that again. Our january and february fundraising are going to be the best two months of fundraising the r. N. C. Has ever had. When we didnt have the white house ever and we didnt have a nominee yet. So why do we feel good about the position were in and we know joe biden is floundering in the polls and we know hes incredibly unpopular and i feel good where we are right now. Im going to say were not done. We have a lot of work to do. And this same day, this same point in 2020, we still hadnt even had a pandemic yet. That hadnt even happened. And think how that changed the trajectory of that election. We know the democrats are going to have a ton of money. Theyre going to have a ton of money. Theyre going to bring everything into this. Theyre going to have their media allies on their social media platforms. I think the thing i worry about the most is something we can control. Which is our internal cohesion. We want to make sure that were united as we head into this next election. Seven years ago i talked a lot about unity. I talk about it all the time. You guys hear me. We cannot win if were divided. We can only win through addition. We cannot win through subtraction which is why i worked to expand our intent. We have issues in our party. People are more intent on attacking other republicans, whether it be financially or cliches or anything as they attack joe biden and the democrats. We have to stop attacking other republicans. If we spend our time attacking each other, we guarantee the democrats are going to win. Im going to share a story ive shared many times, many have heard it about my mom. I shared it at the Reagan Library last year, when she ran for senate in 1994, it was a tough race. It literally divided my family, literally. My grandfather, governor George Romney endorsed my moms opponent. Think about that. I loved my grandpa, he lived next door to me and i still love him but he endorsed her opponent in that race. My uncle mitt and my dad came in and campaigned for my mom. Mitt was running for senate in massachusetts and it was tough. The toughest thing i ever dealt with politically is have your family literally divided. My mom ended up losing that race 5248. And the day after i remember being home and it was hard, i was young and watched it happen to my mom and they called her and said please, please come to a unity breakfast, we have to win the senate seat but we need to you come in and bring your supporters and show that unity. I bet you cant guess what my advice was to her. I said dont go. Mom, please dont go. They were so awful to you, how can you support this guy, look what theyve done to our family. And she went. She went to that unity breakfast. She faked that smile which we all have to do time to time in our lives. And she held the opponents baby up in the air and said i pledge i will do everything i possibly can to help you win this senate race. I cannot imagine how hard that must have been for her. But she put our party and our country above her personal pain and republicans won that seat for the first time in two decades. I share that story again because when i talk about uniting, im not just talking about it, ive walked the walk and seen my family walk the walk. We have to unite. Just as my mom did 30 years ago, i will do Everything Possible to reelect President Trump in november. And i ask that all of you out there who work so hard during this primary season or supported another candidate that you come in and join me in supporting our president as well, our future president as well. We need you. We need you. Now im stepping aside today because i have long promised to put the nominee and their plans for the r. N. C. First, winning the white house back is too important for me to do otherwise. President trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the r. N. C. When i made the decision to step aside there was no one else. I supported to be the next chair more than michael what thely. Michael and i had a very close relationship as he ran North Carolina and i ran to be my cochair last year and appointed him as general counsel and he will be phenomenal on i know an issue President Trump cares deeply about, Election Integrity. Im rooting so hard for michael and lauras success and offer all the help and guidance i can to help ensure you do succeed in your role and thank you for stepping up. I leave you all with just one final request, and i dont think it is going to shock you. Join me in putting our country first. We know people. We talk to them every day. I hear people every day are hurting. They are struggling and cant afford groceries and cant afford rent. Theyre seeing crime rise in their street and seeing fentanyl in their border and are afraid of the open border. Joe biden is a disaster for the American People. Not just him but all the democrats. Im going to ask you to join me in uniting for the next eight months and committing everything you have to make sure we keep the house, win the senate and we take back the white house and send President Trump there. Thank you so much, god bless you and god bless the United States of america. [applause] thank you. With that ill happened the gavel to our cochair drew mckissic. Thank you so much. Mr. Mckissic thank you, maam. Please rise again and give our madam chairman a round of applause and thank for you her service as we accept her resignation. [applause] now that weve accepted the resignation, pursuant to rule 4c of the r. N. C. Rules, the chairman shall be filled in the same manner a chairman was elected in the first place. R. N. C. Elections are governed by rule 5b which reads in part, all officers accept the vice chairman, shall be nominated from the floor and have at least the majority vote of the republican National Committee members in each of three states in order to have their names placed in the nomination. Only one candidate provided documentation of support from at least two members from three states for the office of chairman. The candidate nominating and seconding speeches will be allotted with five minutes. Parliamentarian kaye cruz will keep time and nominating speeches will be made from the podium and the second speeches will be made from the microphone on the floor. Only the members recognized for nominating and second candidates will be allowed to speak. The following closed nominations and voice vote wit be conducted. After the election the elected officer will have an opportunity to address the body. These are the procedures we followed in the past for officer elections and without objection, these are procedures well follow again today. Hearing an objection well proceed to election. Michael whatly is the only candidate for chairman who demonstrated the required support. The chair recognizes jim dickie, committeeman for the purposes of nominating mr. Wadley. Mr. Whatly. What a wonderful day and what a great opportunity we have for service for our great country. Its a special pleasure for me this morning to rise to offer the nomination of Michael Whatley. We all know michael and know what a Wonderful Service hes been to this committee and to the party and to the nation. Hes a lifelong republican who has worked for decades to support republican candidates at every level in the United States and in our party. He served with distinction as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, general counsel of the r. N. C. Where hes done absolutely stellar work. And as our chairman, michael will bring a focus and a dedication to the r. N. C. And he will work relentlessly to elect donald j. Trump as our 47th president of the United States, flip the senate, expand our majority in the house of representatives, and help us in our individual states win elections up and down the ballot. Mr. Cochairman, it is my honor to place the name of hike emwhatley in nomination. Of Michael Whatley in nomination. The chair recognizes casey crosby, the treasure from kentucky and the gentleman from rhode island for seconding the nomination. Casey . Casey for all who know michael he has three priorities to lead us to victory in november, that is get out the vote, protect the ballot, and raise the money. In North Carolina, we all know michael has built one of the most successful election day operations in the country and this time last year we asked michael a lot of questions because we wanted to do what he did in North Carolina and kentucky and as we all know, he returns every phone call. He was so helpful to us and in fact some of the work he helped us lay the groundwork for helped us get a decision in our court of appeals that set precedent for future elections in kentucky. It was invaluable to us to have him as a resource. As general counsel, michael has been a machine with fundraising and im confident as your treasurer every dollar michael raises is going to go towards winning in november. Its my honor to enthusiastically second the nomination for our next chairman, Michael Whatley. Thank you. Thank you, casey. As a new member to the 168, everyone understands what a daunting task it can be to join a prestigious crowd and can be very challenging. I for one being in this position for less than a year so far, one of the very first people who approached me in Oklahoma City last year was mike whatley and he didnt know who i was and quite frankly if he had he probably wouldnt have started the conversation. The reason i say that is because i like to ask questions. If i dont know, im asking somebody a question. Hes never been without an answer or if he didnt have an answer, hes asked others. Hes always gotten back to me and always been open. So there are a lot of new chairs in here and i encourage each and every one of you to stand by new chairman whatley, ask the questions you need to help you along the way. One of the things he said he was going to stand up for is Election Integrity and i think we can all get around that. Along with President Trump, well do everything we can to make sure we actually stand up for Election Integrity. Its no doubt that the reason why Michael Whatley is doing that is he created one of the largest Election Integrity campaigns in North Carolina. Hes done an amazing job there. Also, too, those of us who know, we know its a very purple state and the amount of work hes actually put together there has been nothing short of remarkable. Hes actually taken the state and flipped the North Carolina supreme court. Hes actually had a supermajority in the state and the senate. He also elected two republican senators and will deliver four new republicans to expand the majority of the house. He knows what it takes to win. Hes not going to give up. Hes going to continue to work as hard as he has and i, too, along with casey and many of you, stand and would love to put my name in there to second mike whatley for chairman of the r. N. C. Thanks, chairman powers. The name of Michael Whatley for chairman of the National Committee has been moved and seconded. Since no other candidates are qualified in rule 5b, nominations are now closed. Well now move to a vote. The question is on the election of Michael Whatley as chair of the republican National Committee. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. , the ayes have it. Congratulations, mr. Chairman. The gavel is yours. Michael thank you. And please join me in changing cochairman mckissic for his service to our party as we accept his resignation. I want to open this morning with several notes of gratitude. First, i want to thank the members of the r. N. C. For entrusting me with this position at this critical time. I have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement that ive received over the past couple weeks as ive talked to the members of the neat. Knowing i have the opportunity to work with and for all of you is both humbling and exciting. I want to thank Ronna Mcdaniel for her great envision for the past seven years. From the moment i stepped on this committee from 2019, shes been a friend and mentor and im grateful for her leadership and service to the Republican Party and our candidates across the country. Mr. Whatley. Mr. Whatley id also like to thank my family, suzanne, michael, george, and mary kate. Although they could not be with us here today, school still calls, theyve been amazingly supportive and i could not even contemplate this journey without having them beside me. Finally, id like to thank President Trump for his trust and support. There is no one who has been more focused on fighting for the American People, and im grateful for the opportunity to work with him to win and help revitalize our great nation. As we meet here in houston today, we are already in the midst of one of, if not the most important election cycles this country has ever seen. Four years ago, russia was in check. China was in check. Iran was in check. Inflation was in check. Energy and housing prices were low. Our southern border was secure. And the world was a much safer place. Look where we are today. Russia is in ukraine. Iran through its proxies is in israel. And china is licking its lips thinking about taiwan. Inflation is out of control. Housing and Energy Prices are through the roof. And 8. 35 million Illegal Immigrants have come across our southern border. We dont know who they are. We dont know where they are. And we dont know what theyre doing. Let me just say this, peace through strength is much more than just a Great Campaign slogan from ronald reagan. It is a recognition the world is a much more dangerous place when america is weak. Our country and indeed the entire world cannot take four more years of joe biden and democratic control. In less than eight months, we are going to determine the fate of not only the United States but of the entire world. And this body, the r. N. C. Is going to be the vanguard of a movement that will work tirelessly every single day to elect our nominee donald j. Trump as the 47th president of the United States, flip the senate, expand our majority in the house of representatives. Now, the next time the r. N. C. Will be gathering will be at our National Convention in milwaukee. Im extremely excited to work with our committee on arrangements led by chairwoman ann hathaway and vice chair david bossie along with our Milwaukee Host Committee chaired by michael crevis to host a world class event when will formally nominate mr. Trump and showcase the best of the Republican Party to the entire world. Weve all seen time and again that the race for the white house will come down to a small handful of states, as will control of the senate. And control of the house of representatives will come down to a small handful of districts. The races in those states and districts will be won or lost by the narrowest of margins. In order for republicans to win, we must focus on two primary missions, getting out the vote and protecting the ballot. Which means that the republican National Committee will be focused like a laser on getting out the vote and protecting the ballot. My favorite statistic in all of politics, if you have a fiveminute conversation with an undecided voter, that voter is 6 more likely to vote and vote for your candidate. Every year more and more voters are voting early or by mail. We want to make sure were talking to those voters before they cast their ballot. We have millions of low propensity voters who will vote for republicans if we can turn them out. In order to win, we must identify, target, and communicate with those voters. To do that, we will build our efforts to register new republican voters. Well build our data program to target the voters we need to be reaching out to. We will recruit and train tens of thousands of volunteers to knock on doors and make phone calls in order to have those five minute conversations and get those voters to the polls. Every one in this room and every voter across the country knows that we must protect the sanction at this time of their the tank at this timey of their the sanctity of our vote. Ive worked with mcdaniels to build our Integrity Program from scratch. Weve hired attorneys across the country and filed more than 75 lawsuits in 23 states and are working closely with state legislators and election regulators to ensure state laws, rules, and regulations will ensure fair, accurate, secure and transparent elections. Weve also hired in place Election Integrity electors in battleground states recruiting and training tens of thousands volunteers to serve as poll judges, workers and observers who will act as real time monitors whenever votes are being cast and counted. And we will do more. If our voters dont have confidence that our elections are safe and secure, nothing else matters. We will work relentlessly in every state to ensure that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. Over the next eight months the r. N. C. Will work hand in glove for President Trumps campaign to deliver on these core missions. If a dollar we have is not directed towards winning this november, that dollar will not be spent. If a proposal or a request comes to us that is not focused on winning in november, it will not be considered. From now until november 5, we have an incredible amount of work to do in order to deliver the votes to return donald trump to the white house, flip the senate and expand the majority in the house of representatives. I know that this committee is ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work. I am so proud to have this opportunity to serve as the chair of your republican National Committee. I am grateful for your trust and your support, and im truly excited for the opportunity to work with each and every one of you to win big this november. Thank you. Now, pursuant to the requirements of rule number 5, an election for office of cochairman is now in order. Without objection, we will follow the same procedures for this election as we just used for the chairmans election. Laura trump is the only candidate for cochairman who has demonstrated the required support for her nomination. The chair recognizes beth block, National Committee woman from West Virginia for the purpose of nominating ms. Trump for the office of r. N. C. Cochair. Ms. Trump thank you, chairman whatley. Esteemed members of the republican National Committee and special guests, in West Virginia, country roads take us home. Today the road has led us to houston where we begin the journey home to the white house, together and united. Today im incredibly proud to nominate without hesitation an exceptionally kind, smart, and capable individual for the position of republican National Committee cochair, laura trump. Born in wilmington, North Carolina, laura was raised by parents who instilled in her the importance of family and fostered a deep appreciation for the values held close by many americans, faith, freedom and optimism and being able to achieve the american dream. In 2014, laura married a young businessman, eric. And in 2017, she began her most important role, as a mother to son luke and daughter carolina. Presently and for many years, republics and conservatives have been in a battle for our nation. While many people would shy away from the fight, laura has consistently been at the forefront, exhibiting the needed fortitude, champagning the Service Message is so often ignored by democrat politics and the bias media, disconnected from the hardworking americans, laura trump keanly represents the spirit and the unwavering committee that defines the America First conservative movement. As a devoted wife, loving mother, and proud american patriot, laura has command of the core values of our party and shes not afraid to express them. Her dedication to our good work is not just commendable, it is the convincing example of leadership already in action. In a world where qualifications are often measured but titles and years of experience, were reminded of a powerful truth. God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Laura trump is the embodiment of this truth. Her journey is a testament to the fact that passion, integrity, and a deepseated love for ones country can indeed pave the way for Transformative Leadership as we saw in President Trump in 2016. I would not let anybody define the republic National Committee as an embattled party. We are an empowered party. Our unity, our resolve, and our dedication to the principles of conservativism is our greatest strength. In the face of challenge, in the midst of trials, let us stand together, unwavering in our commitment to the ideals that have made America Great. In nominating laura trump for republican National Committee cochair, im nominating a leader who is ready to stand at the forefront of this battle. Fellow republicans, the time is now. Let us come together. Let us stand together and be united in our purpose and steadfast in our resolve to support laura trump for republican National Committee cochair. Together we will forge ahead, championing the America First agenda and securing a brighter, more prosperous future for our country. Together we will make America Great again. May god continue to bless our country, our leaders, our members, and president donald j. Trump. Thank you. Mr. Whatley thank you, beth. The chair will recognize glenn mccaul of South Carolina and david bossie, from maryland for the purpose of seconding the nomination. Were thank you, chairman and members of the committee, i nominate laura trump to be the mexico chair of the republican National Committee. Laura trump began her career as a television producer. She was a contributor on fox news and host her own show the right view. Shes an excellent businesswoman and entrepreneur, using her talent on the campaign trail. Her work for charities has raised millions of dollars for those whose voices cant be heard. She brings to this role her passion and experience that her heart defines. Thank you. Im proud to second the nomination of a leader, a fighter, and a patriot, laura trump. To be the mexico chairman of the republic National Committee. When her fatherinlaw came down the golden escalator in trump tower in 2015, she rolled up her sleeves and joined the fight, and thats when i first met her. From day one, she was on the campaign trail supporting the greatest president our country has ever had, donald trump. Laura is passionate about winning both in politics and in charitable causes. Like her and her incredible husband erics important work for st. Judes childrens hospital, something ive been fortunate enough to see personally. President trump has called laura his most valuable asset. And now we get the opportunity to have her many talents at the r. N. C. Working for us. She has laid out her optimistic vision for this organization to raise money and make sure we spend it to get out the vote and secure our elections. We have a long road ahead, not just for the future of our party but for the future of our country. And laura is the right person for the job. For laura, there is only one goal and it should be the goal for everyone in this room, defeating the worst president in americas history, joe biden. She knows that we need to save our country, keep the house, win the senate, and reelect donald trump. So im pleased to mom the nate our mexico chair of the r. N. C. , lara trump. Thank you, glenn, thank you, david. The nomination for lara trump for cochairman of the republic National Committee has been moved and seconded. Since there are no other nominations that qualify under rule 5b, nominations are now closed. We will now move to a vote. The question is on the election of lara trump as cochairman of the republic National Committee. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Although opposeed, please say no. The ayes have it and lara trump is elected as cochairman of the republic National Committee. Madam cochair, congratulations. Id like to invite you to the podium to make a few remarks. Lara this is an exciting day in houston, ladies and gentlemen. Look, i was going to prepare a speech. I had a bunch of things written down. I said, you know what, i want to come here and speak from my heart. Ive had an opportunity to call and now in person meet with so many of you. I know what you guys do all across this country. I know the commitment youve made. I know how important this role is, and it is truly an honor to be here to work alongside all of you over the next 241 days thats right, were keeping track, because we know what the goal is at the end. We have one goal, the goal on november 5 is to win. And as my fatherinlaw says, big league. Were going to win on november 5. Right . And i want to say thank you to, first of all, ronna and drew for passing the baton as ronna mentioned earlier, to me, to michael. We are going to work our hardest over the next eight months, i can promise you that. Its an honor as well to work with someone else from North Carolina. Did you all do this on purpose . We have the North Carolina contingent. Everybody else, its ok. Ive known michael for so long. And hes a fighter. Hes a worker. Hes a doer. Thats exactly what youre going to see out of the republic National Committee with us at the helm. Were going to be doing and working and winning. My husband, eric, was here and had to catch a flight. He was here with me and want to say thank to you him. Since the day my fatherinlaw came down the golden escalator, everyone remembers that famous day. This has never been about each of us as individuals, its about us as a family and its been about our country. And with eric by my side, ive done things i never imagined possible. Believe me, 10 years ago if you had asked me if id been part of a president ial campaign, i would have said youre crazy and yet i worked for three years as a Senior Adviser to the trump campaign, an incredible opportunity. I got to see this country from sea to shining sea and meet incredible people and have Life Experiences i will never forget. But eric encourages me every day. And i know that with his support, this role is going to be incredibly successful, and our country as a result will be incredibly successful. And im doing it not for me, im doing it for the future generations, for my two kids, luke and carolina, 4 and 6 years old. I think everybody in this room understands the battle, right . It isnt right versus left or republican versus department. Its about good versus evil. Its about bringing this country back and its about giving this country back to we, the people, right . Thats the goal. And you know the vision. You know what we have to do. Michaels talked about it. We are going to make sure that every single penny of every dollar raised goes towards one goal which is winning. How do we do that . We have to have Election Integrity like weve never seen before in this country, right . Weve got to play the game a little bit different by. We have to encourage people to do things like early voting. We have to get people early voting. As soon as they go vote, they take people that day on all the way up to election day to go vote. We have to raise a lot of money. And i have great news. I brought this up here today. Because i wanted everyone to know that already i have a check for the republic National Committee for 100,000 thats been donated as of today as of these nominations going through. Yeah, were starting today, folks. And i wont take up too much time because lets face it, weve got to get to work and get to work quickly. I want to say again, thank you for entrusting me in this position. I promise to work hard. I promise to do everything within my power. We need to make sure that nothing is left to question on november 5, that we arent playing catchup, that we have the votes. That everyone feels when they went in to vote that day, their vote counted. Thats what were going to do. I look forward over the next 241 days to working alongside each and every one of you. I also want to say thank you very quickly. I would be remiss if i didnt thank president donald j. Trump, right . Because, ill tell you, he called me about this position. And i never if you would have asked me two months ago, would you have ever considered doing this . I dont really know. Its not something i ever thought about. But i also never realized wed be in this space in our country right now. And if this is where my best use is and if this is where were going to have to fight the most, this is where i want to be. I want to be in this fight alongside all of you. Im proud to do it. Im excited to be here. Im ready to get to work. 241 days to victory, ladies and gentlemen. Lets make America Great again. Lets expand our lead in the house, take back the senate and lets put donald j. Trump back in that white house. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Its an honor. [applause] that concludes our Committee Business today. I would like to thank all of you for everything you are doing for our party and our country. And i would like to recognize richard porter, the National Committeeman from illinois for the purposes of a motion. Mr. Chairman, congratulations to you and to lara. Its going to be a great team and were very excited to be with you. As the cochair just said, its time to go to work. Id like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting. We have a motion. Is there a second . Yes the motion has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of adjournment, please signify by saying aye. All opposed signify by saying no. The noes have it. This meeting is adjourned