The Trump dilemma: Aiming to win back House, NRCC chair walks tightrope regarding former president

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As Rep. Tom Emmer touted the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) robust third quarter fundraising figures, the House GOP reelection chair emphasized that “voters are ready to fire Nancy Pelosi and hold the failed Biden Administration accountable.”

The Minnesota Republican has repeatedly emphasized this year that Republican voters are energized to take back the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections, when the GOP needs a net gain of just five seats in the 435-member chamber to recapture the majority they lost in the 2018 midterms.

Emmer made his latest comments on Wednesday as he took questions from reporters. But a day earlier, former President Trump predicted in a statement that “if we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in ’22 or ’24.”

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“It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do,” the former president stressed.

Trump’s statement comes as he continues to make unfounded claims that his 2020 election loss to now-President Biden was due to a “rigged” election rampant with “massive voter fraud,” and who’s pushing partisan election audits in states across the country.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Emmer answered that “the former president, he’s a private citizen.. he of course, is entitled to his own opinion.”

And the NRCC chair highlighted that he’s “confident Republican voters across the country are eagerly awaiting the opportunity in November of ’22” to regain the House majority.

But there’s no denying that Trump, nearly 10 months removed from the White House, remains extremely popular and influential with Republican voters and GOP politicians. The former president continues play a kingmaker’s role in GOP politics as he repeatedly flirts with another White House run in 2024.

Trump will headline a major NRCC fundraising gala Nov. 8 in Tampa, Florida.

Emmer noted that “we’re honored that the president is going to headline our fall dinner. He remains the biggest draw in our party. We’re happy he’s helping our efforts to fire Nancy Pelosi.”

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That’s in-line with what the chair told Fox News in late January, just a week after the end of the Trump presidency, when he said that the former president “is a force in American politics, and I expect he’ll continue to remain a force.”

On Thursday, Emmer also spotlighted that as his committee works to win back the House majority, “we’re going to continue to highlight the polices of the Trump administration. They were incredibly popular and they continue to be incredibly popular.”