Former Republican Texas Rep. Will Hurd explained Sunday that “the Democratic Party has some real problems” and that the Republicans have an opportunity to take back the House of Representatives in the 2022 elections.
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Hurd was asked by host Chuck Todd about the future of the Republican Party and if “the messaging of constantly berating government” and saying “government is the problem” is part of an overall party messaging problem.
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“I don’t disagree with your premise. The reality is, the Republican Party should be based on our core values. If we’re going to be a party that’s viewed as representing nuts and conspiracy theorists, we’re going to ultimately have a problem. And so, it’s not about no government, it’s about reasonable and sensible government. If we can reduce the size and scope of the government and still provide great services, we should be able to do that,” Hurd responded.
He continued, saying that “there is a role for government to play” but that the conversation should be about what that role is. He then explained that the conversation should also be based on people having as much freedom as possible. “When you have freedom, that allows opportunity, and when you have opportunity that leads to growth, and growth leads to progress,” he added.
Todd then asked Hurd what role former President Donald Trump should have in the future of the Republican Party.
“I think very little if none at all. This is a president that lost the House, the Senate, the White House in four years. I think the last person to do that was Herbert Hoover, and that was in the Great Depression. When you look at, in the 2020 election, the number of Republicans that were successful significantly outperformed President Trump,” Hurd answered. (RELATED: ‘The Civil War Is Over’: NBC Analyst Claims ‘Mainstream Conservatism’ Is Being ‘Killed By Donald Trump’)
The party that holds the White House historically performs more poorly than the opposition party in the midterm elections. Sticking with that tradition, Republicans lost their majority in the House in the 2018 midterm elections. They also lost the Senate after the Georgia election runoffs in January, which some blame on Trump’s post-election rhetoric on election fraud.
Hurd pointed to a better than expected performance in 2020 by down-ballot Republicans as a sign that they are in position to outperform Democrats in the future. The party had a net gain of 12 seats in the House from the Democrats.
“We should be talking to disaffected Democrats. The fact that Speaker Pelosi didn’t pick up any seats is an indication that the Democratic Party has some real problems … You know history tells us that we’re going to take back the House,” he continued. “We should do it based on our principles. We should do that by talking to those folks that don’t believe in defunding the police, that don’t believe in open borders. We have an opportunity, but we can’t do that if we’re talking about the lies of an election that went wrong or succumbing to conspiracy theories.”