Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was in Colorado this week to campaign alongside U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, whose win or loss this year in the 8th Congressional District may determine whether the GOP maintains control of Congress.
Gruters, a top ally of President Donald Trump, also visited with The Unaffiliated during his trip to talk about Evans’ reelection bid, the other Republican members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, and whether the Colorado GOP, mired by years of infighting, can be a trusted partner for national Republicans.
The following has been edited for clarity and length.
The Unaffiliated: Republicans face serious national headwinds, including in Colorado, heading into November. How are you instructing Republicans to talk to voters in places like the 8th Congressional District about the high cost of gasoline, continuing inflation and housing costs?
RNC Chairman Joe Gruters: People forget the terrible situation President Joe Biden left us in. We are working — the president, administration and the Republican team — is working on it, and they have been working on it since day one. That’s why they went after things like the Working Family Tax Cuts Act, and the no tax on tips, overtime, Social Security. Every single Democrat voted against that. Gabe obviously fought for that. You look at the fact that Democratic state Rep. Manny Rutinel, Evans’ opponent, wanted to give — or they did give — illegals free healthcare. It caused a crisis here. That doesn’t make your life more affordable when they have to raise prices and cut services in other areas. We have to give the system time. The president has empathy. They’re working day and night to try to make sure we can get these prices down, but it takes time. And it takes time after the
disastrous Biden policies of the last four years.
Unaffiliated: Gas prices had gone down by the time Trump came back into office. They went back up again with the war in Iran.
Gruters: Yeah, and listen, the president hates war. He has created or was responsible for eight different peace deals. But at the end of the day, the president’s main priority and task is to keep Americans safe. It’s a national security thing. We don’t always see what the president sees, and I have full faith and trust in the administration to make sure that he’s keeping us safe.
Unaffiliated: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thinks it has a shot at winning all eight congressional districts in Colorado. That’s partly a play to drive national Republican spending in the state. Do you anticipate the GOP having to invest in all eight Colorado congressional districts this year?
Gruters: No. Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd’s probably the second one that we’re watching after Evans’ race in the 8th Congressional District, but I think that all four of our candidates are in solid positions as of right now.
Unaffiliated: How do you change the Republican brand in Colorado after nearly a decade of defeat and with a president who is very unpopular here?
Gruters: I think that’s why we’re doing things like the midterm convention. Hopefully people will watch the messaging to see what we’re offering. Affordability will be a big part of that. But it basically comes down to: Do you want reasonableness and common-sense, mainstream, America-first type policies? Or do you want to have policies that are crazy and borderline lunatic-esque? Because that’s what I think these Democratic Socialists of America, mini-New York Mayor Zohran Mamdanis across the country are pushing.
Unaffiliated: Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd District was endorsed, unendorsed and then endorsed by Trump. He’s now running for reelection by highlighting his independence from the president. Is there room in the GOP for people like him? Are you OK with that strategy?
Gruters: We’re the big-tent party. I always go back to Ronald Reagan’s commandment of: If you’re against me 20% of the time, that doesn’t mean you’re my enemy. We need to work together to make sure that the path to achieve the American dream is possible. I think people like Gabe and Hurd and others are all part of that solution. They need to be their own candidate. I don’t think you can win or expect to win if you just ride somebody’s coattails the whole time. You’ve got to be yourself and you’ve got to convince your local constituents of what you’re going to do differently.
Unaffiliated: But Hurd is not riding Trump’s coattails. He’s more fighting him. Have you told President Trump that it’s important for Republicans to win Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District?
Gruters: That’s who Jeff Hurd is. You can’t change who he is. That’s why that endorsement was taken away and given back. We need Jeff Hurd to be a good member of Congress. He needs to represent his district. He knows how to do that better than anybody in D.C.
GRUTERS ON THE COLORADO GOP
The Colorado GOP has been nothing short of a mess for going on four years because of leadership drama and infighting. Gruters acknowledged that reality, calling the state party “a work in progress.”
But he also said the RNC feels confident enough in the current leadership to resume routing national GOP dollars through the state party.
“We’re going to work with the leadership that’s in place and we’re going to try to help them be successful,” he said. “These midterm elections are about turnout. That’s what we need the Colorado party to focus on. That’s what we need local parties to focus on. Those two things — and election integrity.”
Gruters also made it clear that the Republican strategy in Colorado and across the country is to paint every Democrat as being a member of the DSA. “The Democrat party is filled with candidates that are nuts,” he said.
We asked if Democrats may have success using a similar strategy of trying to tie every Republican to Trump, who is increasingly unpopular among voters. He didn’t directly answer, though he defended Trump’s record.
“I tell people: Although there’s a lot of doom and gloom, we have a path to victory,” he said.
