'Senior Republicans' fear new RNC leadership will 'cover Trump’s legal bills': report

15 February 2024

When Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel dropped the "Romney" part from her RNC communications, it spoke volumes about Donald Trump's stranglehold on the GOP. McDaniel is the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), an outspoken Trump critic — and the former president himself, according to the Washington Post, asked her to drop "Romney."

Regardless, Trump loyalists like "War Room" host Steve Bannon railed against McDaniel for not being MAGA enough and called for her resignation; now, she is stepping down as RNC chair, and the ultra-MAGA RNC leadership Trump has in mind includes Michael Whatley (who heads the North Carolina Republican Party) as chairman and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump (Eric Trump's wife) as co-chair.

In an article published on February 14, Politico reporters Natalie Allison, Meridith McGraw and Alex Isenstadt describe the fears of "several senior Republican officials" who worry that "Trump's expected takeover of the RNC will ultimately pave the way for the Committee to once again cover his legal bills."

Oscar Brock, a GOP committeeman in Tennessee, told Politico, "I don't think it's appropriate for the Committee to pay the legal bills for things done outside the work of the Committee."

Jay Shepard, a Republican committeeman in Vermont, said of Donald Trump, "He will get what he wants at this RNC."

An RNC member interviewed on condition of anonymity told Politico that installing Lara Trump as co-chair "smacks of nepotism" and "will make it easier" for the RNC to cover the former president's legal bills.

Allison, McGraw and Isenstadt note, "RNC members must approve the chair and co-chair positions, though with Trump's endorsements, the election will likely be all but a formality. No date has officially been set to elect the positions, though multiple members told Politico they are anticipating a meeting to be held in early March."

Read Politico's full report at this link.

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