Trump Ally and daughter-in-law officially take over leadership of RNC
The Republican National Committee on Friday selected new leaders hand-picked by former President Donald J. Trump, a move expected to strengthen the expected nominee’s grip on the party apparatus ahead of the general election.
The committee chose Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and the general counsel of the RNC, as chairman and Lara Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter-in-law, as co-chairman.
Both Mr. Whatley and Mrs. Trump were endorsed by Mr. Trump last month after Ronna McDaniel, the committee’s leader since 2017, privately told the former president she planned to leave the position. Ms. McDaniel was for months the focus of intense pressure from inside and outside the Trump campaign to resign over the committee’s lackluster fundraising and criticism of Republicans’ 2022 performance.
Many of Mr. Trump’s allies also criticized Ms. McDaniel, whom Mr. Trump originally selected for the job, for not sufficiently supporting the former president. They cited her neutrality during the Republican primaries and her opposition to his attempt to cancel a series of debates in which he refused to participate.
The co-chairs will take control of the national party at a crucial time for Trump’s campaign, and their elevation is part of his larger effort to effectively merge the RNC with his campaign.
After dominating the Super Tuesday primaries, Trump’s last remaining rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the Republican race, effectively handing him the party’s nomination. Mr Trump is now focusing on the general election, and his campaign is expected to start fundraising in partnership with the party, allowing him to raise much larger sums and tap into the existing party apparatus.
At Friday’s meeting, the RNC voted to officially recognize him as the party’s presidential candidate, even though he has not yet locked up the delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
As part of the leadership overhaul, Chris LaCivita, one of Mr. Trump’s top campaign advisers, will be brought in as the national committee’s chief operating officer. He is expected to manage operations, strategy and spending while continuing to work with the Trump campaign.
As November approaches, raising money is expected to be a major priority for the committee’s new leadership. The commission is historically low on cash, reporting $8.7 million at the end of January. His Democratic counterpart reported he had $24 million, almost three times as much.
One outstanding question is whether the RNC will contribute to Trump’s mounting legal bills as he faces four criminal charges and two high-profile civil lawsuits. The party paid more than $1 million in legal fees in 2021 after Mr. Trump left the presidency and was investigated by officials in New York.
Mr. LaCivita told reporters in South Carolina last month that he did not expect the committee to pay Mr. Trump’s legal bills. But Lara Trump signaled a willingness to do so at a campaign event elsewhere in the state, saying Mr. Trump’s legal costs were a major concern for Republican voters.
“I think this is of great importance to people,” she said. “Absolute.”
A veteran RNC member from Mississippi, Henry Barbour, drafted a resolution that would have blocked the committee from paying Mr. Trump’s legal fees. But the proposal would not have been binding, and it failed to attract enough co-sponsors to be put to a vote.
Mr. Trump — who continues to make false claims of voter fraud as he faces criminal charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — also told allies that he believed the RNC should spend more money on “election integrity.”
Mr. Whatley, the committee’s general counsel, has supported Mr. Trump’s false election claims. He has made baseless claims that Republicans’ security efforts in North Carolina prevented Democrats from denying Mr. Trump victory there in 2020.
Mrs. Trump has made clear that raising money will be a major focus for her, telling reporters in South Carolina last month that the RNC needed to have adequate resources to support what she calls its “election integrity” efforts, which in have taken place in recent cycles. included an aggressive legal strategy and a major surveillance operation, and backing candidates who align with Mr. Trump.
Her family ties to the former president, she said, would likely increase confidence in the RNC among potential donors concerned about the committee’s spending.
As a member of the Trump family, she said, “I can assure you that I am loyal to my father-in-law, and I will ensure that every cent is used appropriately.”