Guess who’s coming to dinner? SC GOP announces keynote speaker for Columbia gala
Acting White House Chief of Staff and former South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney will be the keynote speaker of the South Carolina Republican Party’s Silver Elephant Gala Aug. 2 in Columbia.
The South Carolina Republican Party made the announcement Friday.
“We are proud to welcome Mick back home to South Carolina to celebrate our party and our grassroots leaders and activists,” S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said in a prepared statement. “Mick has represented our state well, first as our Congressman and now by working hard with President Trump ... rolling back Obama- era regulations, to working to secure our border, and creating the conditions for our booming economy, Mick has been standing side by side with our President as he has fought liberal extremists that know nothing about South Carolina or conservative values.”
The SCGOP’s 52nd annual Silver Elephant event is a state party tradition celebrating the party’s growth, history and success.
Past speakers have included governors, senators, presidential candidates and future Presidents, with former president Ronald Reagan speaking at the Silver Elephant’s Inaugural 1967 event.
Last year’s keynote speaker was North Carolina U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Mulvaney, a former state legislator and former U.S. congressman, has faced a few setbacks since joining the Trump administration, The State previously reported.
As White House budget chief in 2017, he couldn’t help sell his former congressional GOP colleagues on an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill. In June, as acting White House chief of staff, Mulvaney struggled to help land a spending deal with congressional leaders to avoid a future government shutdown.
And the New York Times reported Thursday that lawmakers and some Trump administration officials desperate for a budget deal have carefully maneuvered negotiations away from Mulvaney.
“Mulvaney made his name in the House as an ardent opponent of federal spending, even willing to risk a default crisis to secure deep budget cuts,” The New York Times reported. “But in the coming days, Washington must come together to raise the government’s statutory borrowing limit before the Treasury Department runs out of money to pay its bills, possibly in early September, and raise spending caps to stave off across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to sweep through the government next year.”
Last month, Mulvaney endured a dressing-down by Trump, captured on video.
Recent Silver Elephant Dinner speakers include:
2018: Rep. Mark Meadows
2017: Senator Cory Gardner
2016: Senator Tom Cotton
2015: Reince Priebus
2014: Governor Bobby Jindal
2013: Senator Ted Cruz
2012: Senator Marco Rubio
2011: Senator Rick Santorum
2010: Karl Rove
2009: Senator Bob Corker
2008: Vice President Mike Pence
2007: Sean Hannity
2006: Governor Haley Barbour
2005: Senator John Thune
This story was originally published July 19, 2019 at 6:25 PM.
