HOUSTON — Party leaders gathered here over the weekend for the Republican National Committee‘s spring meeting are hopeful new co-chair Lara Trump, with her famous last name and media presence, can fix the organization’s fundraising struggles.
Ms. Trump, a former news anchor who is GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump‘s daughter-in-law, and Trump loyalist Michael Whatley were elected Friday to replace longtime RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, completing the former president’s takeover of the group.
RNC members who lined up to meet her for the first time at a reception one day before Friday’s election were optimistic the former Fox News contributor and producer can attract the big-dollar donors needed to fuel her father-in-law’s presidential bid.
“We all wanted to meet her,” GOP California Committeeman Shawn Steel told The Washington Times. It’s exciting and she’s proven herself. She’s been a loyal, steadfast Trump spokesman.”
Mr. Steel described her as level-headed and making a good impression whenever she speaks.
He added that impression is “going to make the RNC probably a billion-dollar organization this year alone. That’s phenomenal.”
After her election, Ms. Trump waved a $100,000 donor check made out to the RNC as she stressed that Republicans have to play the game a “little differently” against Democrats and encourage early voting. She later told reporters the RNC must raise a half-billion dollars this year for Mr. Trump and other Republicans to win.
Tennessee GOP Committeeman Oscar Brock told The Times he did not know Ms. Trump well and only met her on a couple of occasions but that she seemed to command a “great presence.”
“I think she’ll be great doing media and fundraising and taking advantage of her celebrity status and getting people to return her phone calls, when she’s calling around asking for money,” he said.
The RNC leadership pairing of Ms. Trump and Mr. Whatley, who is chair of the North Carolina GOP and is known for backing voter integrity initiatives, will put the RNC on a new footing compared to recent years.
The RNC, which is known to usually elect its top leaders from among its 168 members, decided to make an exception this time with Ms. Trump.
The organization has been struggling to fundraise over the past few months and needed to take a credit line to better compete with the Democrats’ machine in the upcoming presidential election.
Mr. Whatley, who is well known among the 168 members as the organization’s previous general counsel, was picked by Mr. Trump for his election integrity strategies that he incorporated in North Carolina.
He’ll be charged with incorporating some of those strategies nationwide, as confirmed by Ms. Trump, who announced the RNC’s first-ever election integrity division that will be based on the North Carolina GOP blueprint.
The RNC has plans for an expanded nationwide network of volunteers with trained poll watchers and workers.
Ms. Trump called on her father-in-law’s supporters who are attorneys, among others who want to help, to volunteer to work and observe Election Day practices at the polls. She described the Trump network of volunteers as people who can physically go in and count ballots.
“We can never allow what happened in 2020 and the question surrounding that election to ever happen again,” she said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday Morning Futures.” She said the RNC currently has 78 lawsuits out right now in 23 states.
“And here’s what I want to say to anyone out there who is thinking about cheating in an election, we will go after you,” Ms. Trump said. “You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is not worth it.”
