Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump's assessment of whether Ed Gillespie embraced him in his failed run for governor of Virginia.
Appearing on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" show, McDaniel defended Gillespie while saying that if anything, the Democratic winner "moved the needle" by pledging to work with Trump.
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Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Gillespie by 9 points, and Trump was quick to pounce, tweeting Tuesday night that Gillespie "did not embrace me or what I stand for."
"Ed did work with the president," McDaniel said. "I will always say to any candidate in our party, the greatest enthusiasm in our party right now is for President Trump. … I absolutely think any candidate should be embracing the president, and I think Ed did."
Northam "actually moved the needle by saying I'm going to work with this president," McDaniel said.
McDaniel downplayed the victory for Democrats, saying that Virginia - and New Jersey - are blue states they were supposed to win.
She also said Northam changed his position in order to ingratiate himself with moderate voters.
"Northam ran left to win the primary and then he came to the middle - I'm gonna work with President Trump, if it helps Virginians," McDaniel said. "He changed his position on sanctuary cities, he flipped on the statues position. So he came to the middle and that's how he won moderates.
"If there's a playbook for Democrats, it's work with the president," McDaniel said.
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