DV Journal

Republican National Committee co-chairs Lara Trump and Michael Whatley came to the Delaware Valley this week with a message for the GOP faithful: We’re leaving nothing to chance on Election Day.

“I want to make sure that every person in this country, when they cast a ballot for whoever it is, whether you are voting for a Republican, Democrat, a third-party candidate on election day or mail-in vote, or early voting, knowing that your vote should count,” Trump told a gathering of 120 election volunteers who packed into Trump campaign headquarters in Newtown Tuesday.

“And that’s why we’re here. We from the RNC have put in place an incredible election integrity program.”

Trump is married to former President Donald Trump’s son Eric.

The volunteers received training on how to ensure the 2024 general election is fair, accurate, secure, and transparent.

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was also part of the RNC-sponsored event. She told local Republicans she still has “a little PTSD” from the 2020 election “when we had a court order to observe the ballot-counting and we were kicked out.”

“This time is going to be different and this is a priority for President Trump,” said Bondi.

“I know this will shock you, but 89 percent of Americans only want Americans to vote in our elections,” she said. “It’s the election of our lifetime and Pennsylvania is so important for our country.”

Trump echoed that sentiment. “We want to have an army of people across this country, 100,0000 people strong, working around the country to ensure integrity in our elections,” she said. “Make a plan and get out and vote.”

Whatley, who along with Lara Trump took the reins at the RNC earlier this year, told DVJournal it was time for Republicans to be proactive about ballot security.

“We’re keeping an eye on everything. That’s really why it’s so important for us to make sure first and foremost we have the rules of the road set up the right way before the votes are being cast and then we’ve got to be in the room wherever votes are being counted.”

“We want transparency throughout the entire process,” Whatley said.

In Newtown, Whatley told about having breakfast with Donald Trump and telling him the RNC was ineffective because it was trying to do too much.

“What we need to do is strip down and focus on two core missions. Number one, we’ve got to get out the vote,” Whatley told Donald Trump. “That’s what the RNC does. That’s been our core mission for the last 40 or 50 years and we are really good at working with our state parties.”

“But second — and for the first time in a presidential campaign — we have to protect the vote.”

“We created an office of election integrity,” Whatley said. It’s the first time we had a dedicated office that is focused solely on making sure we are there to protect the vote.”

Asked why former President Trump has not championed voting by mail, Lara Trump said he has messaged it on Truth Social.

“We want legal votes to count and however you can vote best, that’s exactly how you should vote,” she said.

Philadelphia election lawyer Linda Kerns, who is retained election integrity counsel for the RNC in Pennsylvania, attended the training.

“The Pennsylvania Election Code allows for qualified voters from both major political parties to be watchers in each and every polling place in this great commonwealth. The RNC’s goal with our Protect The Vote program is to ensure transparency. Fair and lawful elections ensure voter confidence and strengthen our great nation,” said Kerns.

Green Lane resident Barbara Steever signed up to be a poll watcher.

“People say Trump brainwashed us,” said Steever. “No. We just happen to believe what he believes. If Biden gets another term, this country is dead.”

Ed Moye, who is running for state representative in the 70th District in central Montgomery County, said he’s a Trump supporter because of his policies.

“It’s obvious the nation was in better shape (before Biden took over),” said Moye, who previously ran for sheriff.

Lara Trump said her father-in-law “believes the momentum is behind him” and the polls “clearly show that.”

“We believe if every legal vote is counted on Nov. 5, Donald Trump will become President-elect of the United States,” she said.

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With polls showing President Joe Biden’s approval near all-time lows, the Pennsylvania native son is headed to Philadelphia for a campaign boost. He is scheduled to appear with union members and receive the AFL-CIO’s endorsement for his second term bid.

But Keystone State Republicans want to ensure local voters remember what they don’t like about the incumbent president.

“If Americans let Biden have another four-year term, what we’re going to see is that inflation will continue to worsen, real wages for American workers are down, and will continue to hurt families,” Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Lawrence Tabas said during a Friday press call. “Small businesses are being hurt tremendously and are closing left and right.”

U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) questioned Biden’s campaign message of “four more years to finish the job.”

“I don’t know what the job is, but it’s not good for the working class of America and Pennsylvania,” Reschenthaler said.

Biden’s “assault on American energy has made it more expensive for Americans to get to work, to heat their homes, and to (afford) the basic (necessities). The average American has lost $10,000 due to inflation,” added Reschenthaler.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos Core Political poll found 41 percent of Americans approved of Biden’s handling his job, while 54 percent disapproved. An ABC/Ipsos poll last week put that approval at just 31 percent.

Biden’s appearance will be the first campaign stop since he formally announced his intention to seek reelection nearly two months ago. His Republican opponents have been aggressively campaigning across the country, and Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made campaign stops in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Polls show voters are unhappy with Biden’s handling of the economy, energy, and crime in particular.

“Crime has continued to rise under Biden’s administration,” Tabas said. “Nine of our nation’s cities have the highest murder rate in 2022 than they’ve had in their history. Defunding the police under Joe Biden has made us unsafe in our communities, and Americans deserve to be safe in their neighborhoods. The fentanyl crisis under him has become beyond an epidemic.”

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (PA-9) was also on the call, calling out the Biden administration for “gaslighting” the American people and running “roughshod over democracy.” He said the administration had adopted $400 billion in new regulations and more than $1 trillion in “executive order spending.”

“He’s weaponizing the SEC against companies that he doesn’t like. And the IRS.”

Meuser also smacked Biden’s record of “utterly weak” foreign policy that has China poised to invade Taiwan and opened the door for Russia to invade Ukraine.

“Joe Biden is incredibly soft on China,” added Reschenthaler. “I don’t know how our democracy survives another four years of Joe Biden.” The Democrats are “extreme.” They want to make Washington. D.C., a state, allow 16-year-olds to vote and “pack” the Supreme Court, he said.

Pennsylvania Republicans also targeted Biden over energy policy, with the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee releasing a statement linking the state’s Democrats to Biden’s record.

“Even though President Biden’s job performance is deeply unpopular, PA Senate Democrats are all too willing to hitch their campaign to the failed Biden-agenda,” the SRCC said. “[PA] Senate Democrats stood by RGGI last year, now Pennsylvanians are seeing higher utility bills and energy sector job losses due to this policy blunder.”

If Biden is reelected “the war on American’s energy independence will continue,” Tabas said on the press call. “His first act when he was elected was to shut down the Keystone pipeline, 110,000 jobs were lost.”

The Republicans were asked about the recent indictment of former president Donald Trump for allegedly obstructing justice and mishandling classified documents. Polls show Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP’s nomination in 2024.

“Everyone recognizes that this indictment is indicative of two things, a two-tier criminal justice system that we have in the United States where those that support the ruling regime are treated one way, and everybody else is treated another way,” said Reschenthaler.

Reschenthaler called out what he views as the media’s role in protecting the Biden administration.

“The bias of the mainstream legacy media that does nothing but cover the indictment of President Trump and says absolutely nothing about the corruption of the Biden family, their shady ties to Ukrainian oligarchs and the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].”

Meuser agreed, noting, “People are wildly, extremely frustrated with the unfairness, the targeting, the clear comparisons where Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden received no admonishment whatsoever. Just a joke. And neither one of them was president at the time they took the classified material.

“It’s really almost laughable how obvious this is,” Meuser said. “Throw Hunter Biden and the Big Guy in and some so-called ‘investigation’ taking place … people realize that our country — our federal government and our executive branch- has some really scary problems.

“And this certainly emboldens people to believe we need a change.”