National GOP reluctant to weigh in on Trump’s Russia swirl
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — There was no sign of shock or outrage in the hotel hallways and conference rooms where Republican officials gathered to discuss party business even as politicians on both sides and foreign policy experts fretted about President Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The men and women from all 50 states who run the Republican National Committee did their best to avoid the topic of post-Helsinki summit angst during their summer meeting, which ended late Friday. When pressed in interviews, they defended Trump’s conduct or begged ignorance, citing what some claimed as a complicated policy matter.
“You know what I know about foreign policy? Once a month I eat at the International House of Pancakes. That’s my foreign policy experience,” said Ron Kaufman, a longtime RNC committeeman from Massachusetts and former political director for President George H.W. Bush.
“People wanted change. He’s changing,” Kaufman said of Trump. “The foreign policy experts may not like it. I’m not qualified to say whether it’s right or wrong.”
It was a different story last summer when the RNC formally condemned Nazis and the KKK after Trump’s muddled response to violent protests by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump said in his initial response to that incident said there were “some very fine people on both sides.”
After Monday’s summit with Putin, Trump said he had “confidence in both parties” when asked whether he trusted the Russian president or U.S. intelligence agencies. Trump later attempted to walk back the statement. By week’s end, Trump had invited Putin to the White House for their next meeting.
That didn’t sit well with at least one prominent former RNC member.
On the eve of the meeting, Jennifer Horn, a onetime New Hampshire GOP chairwoman who previously served on the RNC’s executive committee, called on the RNC to support a formal resolution, as it did after Charlottesville, to clarify the party’s position on Putin and Russia’s continued efforts to meddle in U.S. elections.
In an open letter to the RNC, Horn said Trump repeatedly denigrated Republican values “in spectacular fashion” in Helsinki. “Unfortunately, it has become impossible to defend both the president and Republicanism at the same time,” she said, adding: “I’m afraid that if our leaders can’t find that courage today, we will lose our party forever.”
Horn’s plea was ignored. Even New Hampshire’s new GOP chairman, Wayne McDonald, took a swipe at Horn for attacking Trump on Russia.
“The president is doing wonderful things for the Republican National Committee,” MacDonald said. “And to come out against him, as I believe she has recommended, would be totally inappropriate and totally wrong and I couldn’t disagree more.”
Bill Palatucci, the New Jersey committeeman who authored the Charlottesville resolution, said the vast majority of his colleagues felt this current situation was different.
“People remain very supportive of the president and take him at his word.