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RNC Shake-Up: McDaniel Exits, Trump’s Authority Cemented…

RNC Shake-Up: McDaniel Exits, Trump's Authority Cemented

Trump did not spend any time making his mark on the Republican Party in the days following his assumption of the party’s nomination for president.

Republican National Committee members elevated Trump’s supported candidates—Michael Whatley, the North Carolina GOP chairman, and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law—to the positions of chair and co-chair, respectively, at Friday’s spring meeting in this city.

With Ronna McDaniel’s departure, the two will take over as chairperson and co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, respectively. Neither one had someone to worry about on Friday.

In her statements upon her election, Lara Trump remarked, “I know how important this role is, and it is truly an honour to be here to work alongside all of you over the next 241 days.” She thanked her husband, Eric Trump, who was present on Friday, and referred to the former president as her father-in-law multiple times throughout her remarks.

Two of the former president’s closest advisors, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, are also being installed into senior roles at the Republican National Committee by the former president. According to AWN’s sources, LaCivita will reportedly become the committee’s COO, while Blair will play a key role in guiding the RNC’s political strategy. They will both remain advisors to Trump’s campaign in 2024.

There has been a pattern to the leadership transitions. When a political party has an official or de facto presidential nominee, it often reorganises its national committee. Typically, a new chairperson or high-ranking official from the presidential campaign will take over the role of the committee.

People familiar with the situation at the RNC and with the former president characterise the change this time around as more of a takeover. Despite the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) current financial plight, Trump is seeking to bring it into closer alignment with his presidential campaign by assembling a team that will engage in his emphasis on election fraud and enhance its fundraising abilities.

According to David Bossie, a prominent RNC member from Maryland, “It’s going to be identical to what it’s always historically been, which is the presidential campaign runs the RNC, prioritises what the RNC does, how it does it, what it spends money on, what its priorities are,” just before Friday’s chair vote. “Then it will remain unchanged.”

These alterations occur at a time when Trump is eager to use the entire infrastructure of the Republican National Committee to bolster his general election campaign against Joe Biden.

Trump will have access to the Republican National Committee’s extensive voter data, fundraising infrastructure, and ground operation much earlier than he had during his 2016 campaign, thanks to his near-clinching of the GOP nomination this week, which is about four months before the RNC in July and eight months before the November 5 election. In the next weeks and months, Trump’s campaign will use these resources to build out teams in important battleground states including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan.

With the RNC’s full backing, state parties will also start coordinating to get Trump elected.

Whatley stated on Friday that the Republican National Committee will be utterly devoted to the causes of voter turnout and ballot protection. In order to “deliver on these core missions,” he said, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign would operate “hand in glove.”

On the inside of the guard change

McDaniel was re-elected to a fourth term in January. He has presided over the RNC since 2017, after having previously served as chair of the Michigan GOP.

As she stepped down as chair after seven years of working with everyone, she expressed her mixed feelings about being here with everyone on Friday.

Tensions between the ex-president and the Republican National Committee had been building for over a year before she decided to resign. According to a previous AWN article, Trump has held animosity towards the committee for quite some time due to its management of the 2020 election. He blames the committee for lacking what he perceives as the necessary legal representation and systems to contest the election results.

In recent months, tensions have escalated further as Trump and his team have grown more dissatisfied with the Republican National Committee’s handling of the Republican primary debates.

This year, the relationship reached a breaking point as Trump’s advisors expressed extreme worry over the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) worst fundraising year in a decade.

AWN was informed by two party advisers that McDaniel then offered to resign so that Trump could choose his own party head. She made her formal resignation announcement following the South Carolina primary last month.

The event was taking place in the Hilton ballroom when Whatley and Lara Trump were appointed as the new RNC leaders; McDaniel had already left by then.



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