The Republican National Committee has two new chairmen – both confidants of former US President Trump. Including his daughter-in-law: She promised to spend “every single penny” of the donations for Trump’s victory.
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, has been elected co-chair of the Republican Party. The majority of the Republican National Committee (RNC) voted for her and Michael Whatley – he takes over as chairman and is considered a confidant of the ex-president. Both were nominated for the positions by Donald Trump.
“The goal on November 5th is to win, and, as my father-in-law says, to win in a big way,” said Lara Trump in her inaugural speech with a view to the presidential election. She promised that “every single penny of every dollar raised” would go toward the goal of winning the White House, House and Senate for Republicans. “This isn’t just about right versus left, Republicans versus Democrats,” said Lara Trump. “It’s about good versus evil.”
The 41-year-old previously appeared as a political commentator on the right-wing conservative US broadcaster Fox News. She is the wife of Donald Trump’s son Eric.
Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, before a speech by Donald Trump at a Super Tuesday election party on March 5, 2024.
Whatley also sees fraud in the 2020 election
Whatley, head of the Republicans in North Carolina, emphasized in his speech the goal of achieving Republican majorities in both chambers of the US Congress. In the November election, all seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the seats in the Senate will also be re-elected. The Democrats currently have a slim majority in the Senate and the Republicans have a slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Whatley supports Trump’s debunked claim that Democrat Joe Biden only won the 2020 presidential election against the then-incumbent through fraud.
Trump had put pressure on his predecessor
Trump had recently increasingly pushed for a change at the top of the RNC and continued to gain momentum in the party thanks to his series of victories in the primaries. After weeks of public pressure from Trump, the previous RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel resigned at the end of February. This would allow the future Republican presidential candidate to decide who should move to the top of the party, she said, explaining her decision.
The RNC is responsible, among other things, for coordinating campaign strategy, collecting donations and hosting the nomination convention. Above all, financing the election campaign is likely to be the focus of the new chairwoman’s work.
After comparatively ineffective fundraising, the Republicans had less than $9 million at the end of January. For Biden’s Democrats it was $24 million, according to documents from both parties.