Trump introduces a new mystery to his campaign by talking about a 'little secret'
WASHINGTON – Donald Trump said during his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday that he has a "little secret" to help the GOP win big in congressional races.
That cryptic reference has Democrats questioning what the Republican presidential nominee could really mean with a little more than a week to go before Election Day.
While gesturing toward two prominent House Republicans with front-row seats in the New York City arena – Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida – Trump said, “We gotta get the congressmen elected and we gotta get the senators elected. Because we can take the Senate pretty easily, and I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right? Our little secret is having a big impact."
"He and I have a secret," Trump then added. "We'll tell you what it is when the race is over."
The mystery about what the former president was referencing remains a day later. Gaetz's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, and Johnson in a statement did not directly address the matter.
"By definition, a secret is not to be shared – and I don't intend to share this one," Johnson said.
Asked to clarify what Trump was talking about, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to USA TODAY that the real "secret" Trump was referencing were the virtual rallies held in key House districts that will determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years.
"President Trump has done countless telerallies reaching millions of Americans across the country in key regions that also helps bolster Republicans in congressional races," Cheung said.
Democrats tuned into the rally took Trump's remarks to mean something more nefarious, with a prominent House lawmaker who played a critical role in the former president's first impeachment suggesting it was actually a reference to the House's role in settling ? or perhaps trying to overturn ? contested election results for the White House.
“It's incumbent upon them to be transparent and to tell the voters exactly what their secret is, and if it is not an effort to overturn the election with Mike Johnson as the Speaker of the House, then tell us what it is,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat who before being elected to Congress served as a federal prosecutor and later a lead counsel during Trump's first impeachment.
Commenting on Cheung's response about fundraising, Goldman said “that explanation that they gave makes no sense and cannot possibly be what he was referring to.”
As House Speaker, Goldman added that Johnson has enormous powers under the relatively new Electoral Count Act of 2022, which he said provides “a lot of opportunity" to make "bogus arguments about election fraud with the power of the gavel in the Congress.”
In the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol building, Congress enacted major changes to the process for the certification of election results on Jan. 6. But there are still ways a campaign could seek to overturn election results after votes are cast.
In the case of a "contingent election" in which neither candidate gets enough Electoral College votes, the House would determine who becomes president with each state voting as a unit as required by the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. Minnesota and North Carolina are tied between Democratic and Republican members.
Trump's remarks on Sunday in New York signaled support for Johnson to continue serving as the House GOP leader in the next Congress, no sure thing given the factions within the party that disagree over the 52-year-old lawmaker's leadership.
"He's going to be around for a long time, I predict," Trump said of Johnson during the rally, which aligned with a fundraiser to collect much-needed campaign cash.
Johnson told Axios on Sunday that Trump will be "fully supportive" of him retaining power in the House. "I have a very close relationship with President Trump and consider him a close friend," the speaker said. "I know that's mutual, and he tells me how much confidence he has in my leadership."
Republicans currently control the House by narrow margins. They're in a fierce battle to retain their majority in several key swing districts around the country, including in New York where Trump held his Sunday rally and where he introduced into the campaign's final stretch the mystery of what his "little secret" is all about.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump campaign: 'Little secret' to win House is virtual rallies