Trump's Picks to Run the RNC Are Not Good
NCGOP Chair Whatley already took one state from solid red to deep purple. Now Trump wants him to be in charge of the whole party.
Former President Trump announced his picks to take over the RNC when Ronna steps down after the South Carolina primary. He’s picked NCGOP Chair Michael Whatley for the RNC chair, his daughter-in-law Lara for co-chair, and his co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita for COO of the party.
So who are these people?
Michael Whatley
Michael Whatley is a lawyer who currently serves as both the chairman of the North Carolina GOP and the General Counsel for the RNC. He got his start in politics at the age of 16, working on Jesse Helms’s campaign. After that, he worked for the “Dubya” Bush campaign and then got a position in Bush’s Department of Energy. From there, he went to Elizabeth Dole’s office, became a lobbyist, and then into the private sector.
Whatley was elected to chair the NCGOP in 2019 when the former chair was busted for bribery (and later pardoned by Trump). In 2020, he joined Team Trump in saying the election was stolen and even tried to get officials to say Trump won NC while the results were still coming in. He then made election integrity the entire focus of the NCGOP for the next several years.
According to The Daily Haymaker, Whatley, in a December 2022 executive meeting of the NCGOP, said that North Carolina was a purple state now, and people needed to accept that. He also reportedly refused to close the primary, stating that “we need those moderates and unaffiliateds to survive as a party.”
Six months later, Whatley presided over a very contentious and sketchy party leadership election. Essentially, Whatley had the NCGOP use a “super secure” app to vote for the party chair. It was supposed to be restricted to only voting GOP members in the building, but it turned out that anybody with the app could vote from anywhere. Ironic coming from the guy who made election integrity his whole thing. He claimed victory despite the fact that there were more votes than delegates, so now the party members are suing him for an illegitimate election.
Also, reports are that under Whatley’s leadership, the NCGOP is over $72,000 in the hole and burning through its cash reserves.
Lara Trump
She is Donald’s daughter-in-law, Eric Trump's wife. She is also from North Carolina. At one point, she contemplated running for Senate in NC. She has been called out for using a charity for dogs to funnel over two million dollars into Mar-A-Lago over the years she was on the charity’s board. Putting her on the RNC as co-chair seems like a Trump takeover of the party, more than he already has. Do we really think she will have the party’s best interests in mind? Will she be able to tell her father-in-law “no” if the situation demanded the party leadership to stand up to him? Or do we think she would do whatever he asked of her?
Not to mention, her husband, Eric, is one of the defendants in the Business Fraud case. While the judge there has been an absolute donkey’s backside, after what was exposed in court, I wouldn’t trust anyone named Trump with my money. The party shouldn’t either.
Chris LaCivita
Best known for being a no-holds-barred, anything-goes, fiercely loyal campaign strategist, LaCivita is either Trump’s senior advisor or co-campaign manager, depending on what source you read. He also has ties to North Carolina, as he worked on former Gov Pat McCrory’s re-election campaign in 2016. LaCivita has worked for many republican candidates, but his best-known stunt was the John Kerry swiftboat ads back in 2004. More recently, he was quoted as going after VA Republican Bob Good, the Freedom Caucus Chairman, because Bob dared to endorse DeSantis.
Perhaps the most disturbing part about this pick is that he has openly said that he would keep his spot on the Trump campaign and split his time between running the Trump campaign and running the day-to-day of the RNC. Again, the question must be asked: do we honestly think he will put party above his candidate if need be?
Do we really want three Trump yes-men in charge of the GOP? It seems like doing so will turn the GOP into a Donald Trump slush fund. Lara has already said as much.
Whoever takes over the GOP when Ronna steps down needs to promise to do a full forensic audit of the RNC finances. We deserve to know where exactly all the money the rank-and-file has donated over the years went. No one who is part of the current party leadership (Whatley) should be put in charge, and we definitely should not have the current front-runner’s daughter-in-law or his campaign manager in charge of the money at the RNC.
Let’s face it: Trump does not have the best track record of picking people to run things. If you are willing to kiss his ring, he loves you, but the moment you push back on any of his policies or ideas, you are out the door with a couple of insults thrown at your back for good measure.
Dana spoke about all of this on the show:
Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.
Also, Lorraine the hard work you are doing is not going unnoticed. Keep up the great work. I share your articles all the time.
This made me sick when I saw this. We definitely don’t need anymore cronyism going on. I think Scott Presler would be a good option. He’s actually on the ground doing all the work registering republican voters. He’s done more for the Republican Party than the current RNC leaders have.