Michael Whatley tells Dana Perino Trump is connecting with 'everyday Americans' despite legal battle
Trump’s on offense, Biden’s on defense, says new RNC chair
RNC Chair Michael Whatley tells ‘America’s Newsroom’ that ‘the contrast couldn’t be bigger’ between former President Trump’s campaign and President Biden’s.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley said on "America's Newsroom" Friday that former President Trump's New York trial has resulted in a major boost of small-dollar campaign donations, telling host Dana Perino that Trump is "playing offense" while President Biden is on the defensive.
"I think that what we're doing is we're opening up the map. President Biden right now is playing defense all across the country. And President Trump is playing offense all across the country. We're leading in the national polls. We're leading on the issues, and we're leading on the polls in every single battleground state," said Whatley, who took over as head of the RNC last month, replacing Ronna McDaniel.
Whatley said when Biden interacts with the press, it "never goes well."
"President Biden's team has a really hard time right now, because they are either going to shield him from the press, or they are going to allow him to interact with the press."
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. (AP)
Whatley also slammed the president for his schedule.
"He is going to bed at 4:30 in the afternoon. We're already running events with Donald Trump out there before the guy even gets out of bed," he said, questioning whether Democrats will "shield" Biden like they did in 2020.
In an interview Friday with Howard Stern, Biden said he'd be "happy" to debate Trump.
Whatley went on to downplay the Democrats' fundraising advantage heading into the November election.
"We know that the Democrats are going to have a ton of money. They always have a ton of money. That is absolutely not a surprise. What we've seen, though, is that every day that President Trump has been in court, we've been getting, he's been getting $1 million or more in small-dollar donations that are coming in online."
Whatley said Republicans are building strong support ahead of the general election.
"Joe Biden's team has a lead because they've been in the White House for four years. We have been making up ground very fast, and we will absolutely have the resources that we need to be able to get our message out to the American voters."
Trump said the criminal trial is having a "reverse effect," during a visit last week to an Upper Manhattan bodega, while vowing to "straighten out New York" by working with the Democrat mayor and governor if elected to another term in the White House.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 16: Former president Donald Trump stands with local politicians and bodega workers as he visits a bodega store in upper Manhattan where a worker was assaulted by a man in 2022 and ended up killing him in an ensuing fight on April 16, 2024 in New York City. The worker, Jose Alba, was arrested before the Manhattan District Attorney decided to drop charges for lack of evidence. Trump visited the bodega after spending a second day in court where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
"It makes me campaign locally, and that's okay," Trump said. "We're doing better now than we've ever done, so I think it's having a reverse effect."
Trump said New York has "gotten so bad in the last three years, four years."
"And we're going to straighten New York out. So running for president, we're putting a big hit in New York – we could win New York," Trump said.
Whatley pointed out that Trump is connecting with "everyday Americans," including on Thursday morning when he greeted hundreds of construction workers at a Manhattan job site.
"You look at the construction visit that he had yesterday while Joe Biden was still in bed… These are the people that he's waking up every day and thinking about and he's fighting for, and it really is truly showing a connection."
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
