Republican leading nominee and former president Donald Trump pushes for an overhaul in the Republican National Committee as the current chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, forcibly resigned amid financial mishandling allegations.
As part of the changes in the RNC, Trump formally endorsed North Carolina Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair, and Chris LaCivita as the RNC’s chief operating officer.
However, Trump’s backing doesn’t ultimately guarantee that Whatley, Lara, or LaCivita will take over the vacant positions as soon as possible. The committee will have to convene and vote, which will happen alongside the South Carolina primary on February 24.
However, many party members expressed that these are just formality as many of them agree with the preferences of Trump.
Trump wrote in a statement: “The RNC MUST be a good partner in the Presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the National Party and do it flawlessly,” Trump noted in a statement. “That means helping to ensure fair and transparent elections across the country, getting out the vote everywhere — even in parts of the country where it won’t be easy — and working with my campaign, as the Republican presumptive nominee for President, to win this election and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
“For these reasons, I think my friend Michael Whatley should be the RNC’s next leader. Michael has been with me from the beginning, has done a great job in his home state of North Carolina, and is committed to election integrity, which we must have to keep fraud out of our election so it can’t be stolen.”
Trump also touts his daughter-in-law’s communication skills as he endorsed her to be RNC’s co-chair.
“Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for. She has told me she wants to accept this challenge and would be GREAT!” says Trump.
Meanwhile, the presidential nominee noted that his campaign officer LaCivita will manage the RNC’s day-to-day operations “ it will become a fighting machine for 2024 and use all the tools available to win for the American people. This group of three is highly talented, battle-tested, and smart. They have my complete and total endorsement to lead the Republican National Committee.”
According to a report by Breitbart News, the RNC under McDaniels reflects financial constraints as their latest filing with the Federal Election Commission revealed that it only had “just $8 million in cash on hand and was $1.8 million in debt.”
McDaniel was also under fire for misspending, splurged funds on non-essential items as the party struggled to maintain its power.
Under her term, the GOP suffered a series of electoral blows, including eight gubernatorial races, three Senate seats, 19 House seats, and a presidential seat.
Donations to the Grand Old Party also seemed to dry up during her term, as the party reached an eight-year low.
The reason the funds dried up is because we don’t trust where the funds are going. The people out here think that all these pacs could be pacs for the Democrats. We want Trump to endorse where he controls what is done with the money at least in the short term.