GOP has 'virtually no chance' of winning in 2024 if it follows Trump down election conspiracy rabbit hole: McConnell advisor

On Tuesday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," longtime Mitch McConnell adviser Scott Jennings, a staunchly conservative Republican, warned that Republicans could derail any effort to unseat President Joe Biden if their only message is to parrot former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen from them.

"You're in Michigan, a state that he lost by 150,000 votes, and the message is he won," said anchor Erin Burnett. "As a strategy perspective, is that really a winning message? Is it going to work?"

"Well, it's certainly effective in Republican primaries right now where candidates are trying to outdo each other on who is more loyal to Donald Trump, so buying into that message helps you achieve that goal," said Jennings. "Where I think it becomes more problematic, if you're not running in a really red area in a general election, if you're running in a purple area, it's going to be a problematic message."

"I don't know that it will be enough, frankly, Erin, to derail Republican chances to win back the House during the 2022 midterm," added Jennings. "But I think as we get into 2024, if the Republican Party intends to make the centerpiece of its platform relitigating the 2020 election, there is virtually no chance they'll win back the White House. If Donald Trump's the party nominee, of course, that's exactly what they're going to want to do. If he's not the nominee, I think that person eventually needs to say, out loud, into a camera, Joe Biden is a legitimate president and let me explain why you should vote for me."

"You talk about, it might work in these elections," said Burnett. "Those sound bites are there... you cannot take that back. Does that matter? You're on the record saying it's stolen, it's stolen, and then in two years you want people to kind of forget you said that?"

"I think it depends on your jurisdiction," said Jennings. "If you live in an area where Donald Trump did quite well, I doubt it will be very hurtful. But if you're in a purple area or blue area or you're trying to win a seat of a Democrat or you're talking to a bunch of swing voters, like a lot of the Senate races will be in '22, yeah, it's going to be very problematic. Republicans are going to have to make the case of American people as to where they should trust us again with the most power in the land, the president of the United States, and if we go into that re-election in 2024 with a lie, I don't know that they'll entrust us with power again."

Watch below:

Scott Jennings says Republicans will have "virtually no chance" running on the Big Liewww.youtube.com