House Republican leaders distanced themselves Thursday from the chairman of the Republican National Committee’s planned meeting next week at a beachfront resort in Hawaii.
“Do I want voters to think that Republicans do nothing but go to beach resorts in January? No,” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said, according to Politico.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, was not as harsh, but didn’t offer his support to RNC Chairman Michael Steele, either.
"I don’t know," he said when asked about the trip, Politico reported. "You will have to ask the RNC."
While RNC Chairman Michael Steele heads to Hawaii with party staff, Boehner, Cantor and other House Republicans will trek to Baltimore for their annual meeting.
It was the latest in a growing rift between Steele and elected Republican officials. Steele’s missteps and remarks – ranging from his criticism of Republican icons like radio host Rush Limbaugh to offering his opinion that the GOP could not recapture the House in 2010 – have angered conservatives around the country. The rift has grown wider even as recent election victories in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia have bolstered GOP hopes for major gains in the midterm elections.
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