The Republican National Committee's new interview question which asks potential employees if they believe the 2020 election was stolen is designed to help former President Donald Trump court a very specific voter bloc, a campaign expert believes — the "extra crazy."
Democratic political consultant Chuck Rocha made this bold analysis of Trump's campaign strategy during a CNN panel Wednesday to discuss the new RNC question that has already begun raising eyebrows and making headlines.
"He's also trying to bring new people in by being extra crazy," Rocha said, "and get the extra crazy people who never volunteer."
Rocha argued this decision could blow up in Republicans' faces, pointing to his own outreach with American voters during daily focus groups.
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While the question may have earned Trump some newsy headlines and may well build campaign momentum, come election day, Rocha believes voters will put policy before politics.
"I ask voters, what are they looking for in the presidential elections?" Rocha explained. "Democrat, Republican or independent want to know, 'What are you going to do and what is your plan to help me and my family?'"
Rocha was joined on the panel Wednesday by conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings, who argued the incendiary interview question was not serving as a litmus test for Chris LaCivita, a Trump advisor named chief of staff amid an RNC bloodbath earlier this month.
"I doubt that they are using it as the sole criteria (sic) for hiring people," Jennings said. "The RNC is looking for the most experienced political operatives [LaCivita] can find to help win this election."
Host Alisyn Camerota tried to pivot the conversation toward Trump's most recent campaign cash gambit — signed bibles going for $60 a pop — joking that headline was one that should appeared in "The Onion" and not the mainstream media.
But panelist Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst, brushed the topic aside with a quick comment — "Trump has been, you know, shameless throughout his whole career" — then took the conversation back to the RNC interviews.
Brownstein argued that Trump risked isolating the 25 percent of Republican voters who understand there is no evidence to support Trump's claim that the 2020 presidential was stolen.
The CNN analyst contends President Joe Biden is well placed to snatch up those voters who threw their support behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her doomed campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee.
"They are a critical constituency for Biden to cut into to further his gains," said Brownstein. "When Trump is basically saying at the RNC, only people who believe the election is stolen belong in my Republican Party, that is exactly the wedge."
