Trump endorses Michael Whatley, daughter-in-law Lara as Republican National Committee chairpersons

02/15/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed two new replacements for Ronna McDaniel as chairpersons for the Republican National Committee (RNC).

In a statement, Trump formally endorsed Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, as the RNC’s next chairman. The former president touted Whatley’s achievements in the Tar Heel State as the main reasons why he endorsed him to lead the RNC.

“[Whatley] has been with me from the beginning, has done a great job in his home state of North Carolina and is committed to election integrity – which we must have to keep fraud out of our election so it can’t be stolen,” Trump wrote.

“The RNC must be a good partner in the presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national [GOP] and do it flawlessly. That means helping to ensue fair and transparent elections across the country; getting out the vote everywhere, even in parts of the country where it won’t be easy; and working with my campaign as the Republican presumptive nominee for president to win this election and Make America Great Again (MAGA).”

Trump also confirmed his endorsement of his daughter-in-law Lara, who also serves as his campaign adviser, as RNC co-chair. He described Lara, the wife of the former president’s son Eric, as an “extremely talented communicator.”

“Lara is an extremely talented communicator, and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for,” Trump remarked. “She has told me she wants to accept this challenge and would be great.”

Aside from the two, the former president also endorsed Chris LaCivita – a senior advisor to the Trump campaign – as the RNC’s chief operating officer. LaCivita “will manage the RNC’s day-to-day operations so it will become a fighting machine for 2024 and use all the tools available to win for the American people,” the former president said.

“This group of three is highly talented, battle-tested, and smart. They have my complete and total endorsement to lead the RNC.”

McDaniel to step down as RNC chairwoman

The elder Trump’s endorsement of Whatley and Lara followed McDaniel’s announcement that she will step down as RNC chairwoman. According to a separate Breitbart News report, she told the former president of her plans to leave the RNC after the South Carolina GOP primary elections on Feb. 24.

“Should McDaniel follow through on her alleged pledge to leave, the former president will then reportedly promote … Whatley as her replacement,” several sources told the New York Times (NYT). They also mentioned that the former president prefers the North Carolina GOP chair as both of them share the view that the 2020 election was stolen in favor of President Joe Biden. (Related: Trump calls for new election to be held immediately after more indications surface that 2020 was stolen.)

“Despite animosity toward McDaniel from some of [Donald] Trump’s closest allies, he has been uncharacteristically gentle as he has begun to acknowledge her imminent departure in public comments,” the NYT continued, citing how the former president called the outgoing RNC chairwoman as a friend.

But prior to this announcement, the former president had a rather critical view of McDaniel – even considering her removal from the committee. He expressed this sentiment during a Feb. 4 appearance on Maria Bartiromo’s “Mornings by Maria” on Fox News.

“You have to understand – I have nothing to do with the RNC; I’m separate,” he said. “I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK, initially, in the RNC.”

The former president did a complete 180 with his subsequent remark, however, telling Bartiromo: “I would say right now, there will probably be some changes made.” These changes eventually came to fruition with news of Whatley and Lara Trump being named as McDaniel’s replacements.

Head over to VoteRepublican.news for more stories about Trump and the RNC.

Watch Grant Stinchfield explain why the RNC elected Ronna McDaniel as its chairwoman instead of Harmeet Dhillon below.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.