Former President Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican National Committee (RNC) was further secured on Friday as his picks for the party’s leadership positions were unanimously elected.
The RNC voted on the chair and co-chair positions during its leadership meetings in Houston weeks after Ronna McDaniel announced she would be stepping down from RNC chairwoman. Shortly after reports of McDaniel’s departure began swirling following Trump’s request that she step down, the former president endorsed Michael Whatley for chair and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump for co-chair, and both were elected by unanimous voice vote.
“President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC,” McDaniel said as she officially announced her resignation on Friday.
“I will do everything possible to re-elect President Trump in November,” she added. “And I ask all of you out there who worked so hard during this primary season or supported another candidate, that you come in and join me in supporting our president as well.”
Ronna McDaniel officially resigns as RNC chair. pic.twitter.com/49mX3kumAp
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 8, 2024
McDaniel was picked by Trump to chair the RNC following his 2016 election victory. Criticism over McDaniel’s leadership began mounting following the Republican Party’s disappointing results across the country in the 2022 midterm elections.
Whatley, the chair of the North Carolina GOP, spoke to those gathered after becoming the new RNC chair and pointed ahead to the 2024 election.
“In less than eight months, we are going to determine the fate of not only the United States but of the entire world,” he said. “And this body, the RNC, is going to be the vanguard of a movement that will work tirelessly, every single day to elect our nominee Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States, flip the Senate, expand our majority in the House of Representatives.”
Michael Whatley is elected RNC chair. pic.twitter.com/xplqmXcM0s
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 8, 2024
Whatley has served as the Republican state party leader in North Carolina since 2019 and also serves as general counsel for the RNC. Whatley formerly served in the George W. Bush administration and as chief of staff for former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). He also advised the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign and the Trump-Pence transition team.
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In remarks following her election to co-chair, Lara Trump — the wife of Trump’s son Eric — stressed the importance of fundraising and held up a $100,000 check that she said the RNC had just received.
“We are going to make sure that every single penny of every dollar goes towards one goal, which is winning,” she said.
Last month, Lara Trump said that GOP voters are “absolutely” interested in using RNC funds to help pay for her father-in-law’s mounting legal bills.
“That’s why you’ve seen a GoFundMe get started … people are furious right now and they see the attacks against him,” she said. “They feel like it’s an attack, not just on Donald Trump, but on this country … So I think that is a big interest to people. Absolutely.”