The chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Party says he believes President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential election will help Republican candidates.
Jim Rule said Biden’s decision did not come as a surprise to him. He said he believes this could ultimately help former President Donald Trump in his bid for a second term.
“The Democrats are in a very, very tough spot, right?” he said. “They've got Vice President [Kamala] Harris, who's not really the strongest candidate for them yet, by coalescing around her, by everybody supporting her, it shows unity, but it decreases their chances of winning against Trump. If they have an open convention, then they may come up with a stronger candidate, but it really destroys their message of unity and that's something that they drastically need right now.”
Rule said he thinks the Republican Party is going to do well no matter who the Democratic Party chooses as their nominee, including in other contested races.
“I think that the down-ballot races are going to be much stronger,” he said. “But that really depends on how the Republicans in their particular races, like myself as the county chair, how we promote those races, how we get those candidates name recognition so that people know who they are.”
Rule said the Tazewell County Republicans will not change their approach to the election as a result of this change.
“The Democrat message seems to be the same whoever they're going to put in that office, or whoever they're going to put in that candidacy,” he said. “So we're, you know, our message is going to be the same.”
But he said that Biden should consider resigning as president, saying that if he doesn’t have the ability to run for office then he shouldn’t continue as president.
It’s a sentiment expressed by some congressional Republicans including Speaker Mike Johnson, who said in a statement that “if Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President.”
Rule said he hopes Trump focuses on the issues in the months leading up to the election.
"I think that he is really talking about where we're at currently, where we were when he was president during his first term, and where we have the potential to go during a next Trump term as well," he said. "If he stays that message, I think we're gonna do very, very well."
