RNC Chairwoman McDaniel: 'We haven't accomplished the things that we ran on'

McDaniel said Republicans need to deliver on promises to maintain majority.

According to McDaniel, Republicans will need to rack up some accomplishments based on promises they’ve made regarding the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, tax reform and infrastructure if they want to keep control of Congress. “It is hard to go and make the case ‘Give us the majority again’ when we haven’t accomplished the things that we ran on,” she said.

“Saying this is as good as we can do just isn’t acceptable when people’s premiums are going up and deductibles are so high and insurers are pulling out of the marketplace,” she said, adding that she believes more frustration should be leveled at Democrats for creating Obamacare.

McDaniel dismissed suspicions that Vice President Mike Pence is preparing a presidential run for 2020. “He has been a partner with this president every step of the way and is in no way setting up any type of shadow campaign or looking for an opportunity to run against this president,” she said. “He is totally committed to serving President Trump and the American people.”

While the RNC avoids taking positions in primary elections, she did not anticipate any Republicans challenging Trump in the next presidential election unless they make independent runs. “I just can’t imagine thinking that the party would go against an incumbent president,” she said.

“It’s not much different than the day he got elected,” McDaniel said of his relatively low rating. According to Gallup, 36 percent of Americans currently approve of Trump’s job performance — a number that matches his favorability rating in a Gallup poll the week before he was elected.

Asked about Trump’s recent threat of “fire and fury like the world has never seen” against North Korea if it continues to threaten the United States, McDaniel contrasted the current administration with President Barack Obama’s.

“Clearly [Kim Jong Un] was much farther along than the Obama administration had expected,” she said. “President Trump is saying if you attack the United States, if you attack our allies, there will be consequences.”