From left, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., confer just before a news conference to discuss their efforts to rescind recent Biden administration rules on the National Environmental Policy Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
<!–
WHEELING – U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is happy with the current state of the Republican Party, but she isn’t yet considering the possibility of a Donald Trump presidential announcement and what that might mean for the country.
Capito, R-West Virginia, discussed the current state of the GOP and the possibility of a Trump 2024 presidential campaign during a stop in Wheeling last week.
“I think I would rather get to the 2022 (election) first,” she said. “Everything is very fluid right now, and let’s see what happens. That (the 2024 election) is a long way away.”
Capito indicated she is happy with the Republican party’s platform at this point in time, and she hopes that it continues going forward.
But what could jeopardize further gains is party discord, she said.
“I think we’re heading into Election 2022, and the one thing that bothers me as a good, solid Republican is when we turn inward and start firing at one another,” Capito said. “We’ve been doing that too much lately.
“I would like to see us united,” she continued. “I think we have a lot of good policies and good visions for the county. And sometimes when you do all the infighting, all people hear about is the infighting.
“Overall, I am pleased with the Republican party and I think we have great ideas. But I would like to see us more united.”
Capito, 68, announced back in March that she will make a bid to join Senate Republican leadership starting in 2023.
She has expressed interest in being the vice chairperson of the Senate GOP conference, which would make her fifth in the line of leadership among Senate Republicans. Capito presently is an advisor to Senate GOP leadership, which allows her to sit in on leadership meetings.
She serves as the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Her other assignments in the Senate include membership on the Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation; the Committee on Appropriations; and the Committee on Rules and Administration.
The Senate at present is evenly divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with most polling showing gains for neither side with the 2022 election.