Why the RNC’s latest 'B-level' hire is 'good news for Democrats': analysis
On Thursday, March 14, Lara Trump — the Republican National Committee's new co-chair and Donald Trump's daughter-in-law — announced that the RNC was hiring MAGA Republican Scott Presler to lead its voter turnout efforts.
Presler, a far-right conspiracy theorist known for promoting QAnon posts on social media, has aggressively promoted Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And Presler has praised the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building as the "largest civil rights protest in American history."
In a ReidOut Blog opinion column published on March 18, MSNBC's Ja'han Jones argues that Lara Trump's decision to hire Presler is "good news for Democrats" because "it's a sign that the RNC is increasingly staffing up with a team of B-level or worse staffers who are more focused on spouting conspiracy theories and getting internet clout than actually doing the grueling, substantive work of winning an election."
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"Presler is known more for political stunts than substantive election victories," Jones observes. "He's made a habit of visiting various states to assist with highly public campaigns that, in many cases, don't end up going in Republicans' favor. Ahead of a crucial election in February that could have flipped Pennsylvania's state house to Republicans, he visited and attempted to mobilize voters for a candidate who ultimately went on to lose."
Jones adds, "Philly GOPers were pretty demoralized after that loss. And in a similarly high-stakes campaign last year, Presler threw his support behind failed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly. He's also a staunch backer of Arizona gubernatorial election-loser Kari Lake."
Since taking over the RNC, Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump have made a concerted effort to give the RNC a top-to-bottom MAGA makeover. Countless RNC staffers are being fired, and Lara Trump has stressed that the RNC's #1 priority in 2024 is helping her uncle defeat President Joe Biden in November.
But some traditional conservatives have been highly critical of the RNC's new direction, including former RNC Chairman and ex-Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. A Never Trumper and MSNBC host who is rooting for Biden, Steele has warned fellow conservatives that the RNC's heavy emphasis on Trump's presidential campaign will cause GOP candidates in down-ballot races to suffer in November.
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Jones stresses that if the RNC's new leadership continues to hire conspiracy theorists like Presler, Democrats will be the ones who ultimately benefit.
"Presler being given a high-profile position in the RNC would be the latest sign that Turning Point USA and its affiliates are in total control of the Trump-branded Republican Party," Jones writes. "And while that may serve each of them quite well personally, evidence suggests it's bound to hurt the GOP's electoral chances come November."
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Ja'han Jones' full MSNBC column is available at this link.
