President Trump congratulated Tom Perez, the newly elected chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), on his victory, saying he could not be happier for Perez or the GOP.
“Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC. I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
{mosads}Trump previously weighed in on the DNC chair election, praising Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) for his 2015 prediction that Trump could win the Republican nomination.
“One thing I will say about Rep. Keith Ellison, in his fight to lead the DNC, is that he was the one who predicted early that I would win!” Trump said on Wednesday.
Ellison was one of several candidates running against Perez, who served as former President Barack Obama’s labor secretary.
The race to head the DNC became a battle between the establishment wing of the Democratic party, which largely supported Perez, and the more progressive wing of the party, which backed Ellison.
Perez, who was elected Saturday on the second ballot, immediately appointed Ellison to be his deputy chair during his acceptance speech.
Following Perez’s victory, the Republican National Committee issued a statement slamming Democrats for being out of touch with the American people.
“By selecting a D.C. insider, Democrats only create deeper divisions within their own party by pushing a far left agenda that rejects a majority of their base outside Washington,” said chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
“The DNC would be well-served to learn from two straight election cycle losses, encourage the leaders in their party to listen to what the voters want, and get to work with Republicans to fix the mess they created.”