Thread by @daveweigel

Day two at #RJCinVegas. Norm Coleman kicking it off: "Yes, expectations were not matched. But do not discount what we've accomplished... the Biden legislative agenda is dead."

Coleman says the GOP still has a better bench than the Dems: "Word salad Kamala Harris. Covid hypocrite Gavin Newsom. Covid pirate Gretchen Whitmer."

"We won't flip the Jewish vote overnight, but we continue to win market share." A number repeated again and again this weekend: the FL GOP winning 45% of the Jewish vote.

Another theme here is assuring the audience that they should be less glum about the midterms bc they'll run the House and control committees. Rep. David Kustoff: "We're going to be controlling the narrative and setting the agenda."

NH Gov. Chris Sununu: "Let's stop supporting crazy, unelectable candidates in our primaries, and start supporting winners who can close the deal in November! Holy cow!"

Sununu wades into the Democrats' push to make Nevada the first primary."They're still counting votes in Nevada! ...New Hampshire is still going to hold the first in the nation primary, like it or not."

Now up, Rick Scott. "I committed the unpardonable sin in Washington. I challenged the status quo. I took on the Washington establishment and ran for Republican senate leader."

"This is not the end of something. This is the beginning of something. We have a thriving Republican Party outside of Washington, D.C. We need to have a Republican Party IN D.C."

"How can you win an election if people don't know what you stand for, what you're gonna do?" asks Scott. "The current strategy of most Republicans in Washington is just to be against the crazy Democrats in Washington - and they're crazy - and never outline what we're for."

"I ran for leader because Republicans in the Senate routinely cave in and let Biden and the Democrats win."

"We should stop compromising. We should make the Democrats compromise. If we fail in this challenge, we will be nothing but a speed bump on the path to socialism."

Scott explaining why Herschel Walker's win would matter: "A 50-50 seat means we have the exact same number of senators on committees, which means no legislation, no nominees, can pass without getting our votes."

Scott talked with reporters after the speech. On whether he'd run for president in 2024: "No, I'm running for the Senate."

I asked Scott if Trump played a role in picking bad candidates. "We had great candidates," he said.

https://twitter.com/kampeas/status/1594032503563907072

Ted Cruz on one of the reasons Democrats did better than expected: "They went hard left, they energized their base, they governed as left-wing lunatics, and their base showed up in big numbers."

Cruz asks the RJC audience "pull out your cell phone." Then he amends the request: "For those of you that can..."

(Jews observing Shabbat here aren't using technology until nightfall.)

Sen. Tim Scott was the first speaker to praise a Democrat:

https://twitter.com/kampeas/status/1594036479889534981

The hosts of the Ruthless podcast do some crowd work before Trump speaks. Who does the audience want in 2024?

Trump: Modest applause
DeSantis: 2x as much applause
Rick Scott: pin drop

Trump doing a remote Q&A now, asked about Elon's poll about restoring his account. Says the numbers are "overwhelming" (it's 52-48 right now) "I don't see it, because I don't see any reason for it."

"Truth Social is doing phenomenally well, it's through the roof."

Trump gets asked about expanding on Abraham Accords. "A lot of countries want to join but the Biden administration can't get its act together." Had he won in 2020, "10, 12, all of them" [Arab nations] would have joined, he says.

Trump asked how he can expand the GOP; interestingly, he suggests that the Dobbs decision drove up Dem turnout, but never mentions the decision or the word abortion.
"It was a tough issue, and it energized the other side. People came out on that issue for a specific purpose."

Trump's disinterest in ever mentioning that he killed Roe - he was the president who finally appointed enough SCOTUS justices to do it - is so interesting. Didn't mention it once in his launch speech!

By contrast, Pence mentions this in every speech.