Michael Whatley and Lara Trump are taking the reins of the national party with the intention of invigorating its effort to reelect Trump.
by Lawrence Wilson, The Epoch Times, March 9, 2024
HOUSTON—The Republican National Committee (RNC) has elected new leadership endorsed by former President Donald Trump after Ronna McDaniel, one of the group’s longest-serving chairs, stepped down on March 8.
Michael Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party whom President Trump endorsed last month to lead the RNC, was elected by a voice vote to succeed Ms. McDaniel at the committee’s spring meeting in Houston, Texas. He ran unopposed.
Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law who also ran unopposed, was elected co-chair by a voice vote.
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The leadership overhaul comes just days after President Trump dominated the Republican presidential primaries held on Super Tuesday on March 5, solidifying his hold on the Republican nomination and the party itself.
The RNC named President Trump the “presumptive nominee” a day later, after his final challenger, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, suspended her campaign.
Mr. Whately noted that the world is a “much more dangerous place” than it was four years ago.
“Peace through strength is more than just a great campaign slogan from Ronald Reagan It is a recognition that the world is a much more dangerous place when America is weak,” Mr. Whatley said after he was elected chair, stressing that this made the reelection of President Trump all the more urgent.
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About the election, Mr. Whatley said the RNC would be laser-focused on getting out the vote and protecting the ballot.
That involves engaging new and independent voters, registering new Republican voters, and getting them to the polls, he said.
“We will work relentlessly in every state to ensure that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat.”Bloodbath at RNC: Trump team slashes staff at committee
Ms. Trump succinctly summarized the role of the RNC: “We have one goal. The goal is to win and, as my father-in-law says, win bigly.”
In her farewell to the committee, Ms. McDaniel touted her achievements of the past seven years and pleaded with the party to display unity as it moves into the 2024 election.
In It to Win
Ms. Trump has said she would use the RNC to further her father-in-law’s reelection.“The RNC needs to be the leanest, most lethal political fighting machine we’ve ever seen in American history,” she said in a televised Newsmax interview on Feb. 14. She added that she would spend “every single penny” of RNC funds to reelect President Trump.
Ms. Trump later told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview that she would mount a ballot-harvesting campaign in this election, something Republicans have been averse to in the past.
“We need to have the biggest legal ballot harvesting operation this country has ever seen,” Ms. Trump said. “It feels, for a long time, like the Democrats have been playing chess and we’ve been playing checkers,” she said. Her goal is for the Republican Party “to be the opposite, to be steps ahead of them, and on our toes, and ahead of the game, and facing forward the whole time.”
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