North Carolina Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley was thrust into the national spotlight when President Trump backed him to serve as the next leader of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
This from thehill.com.
Whatley is a Trump ally who has long echoed the president’s rhetoric about “election integrity” in the wake of the 2020 election, which the entire world can no longer debate was fraudulent and stolen.
He would have to grapple with the organization’s fundraising struggles, ensure various state party chairs are happy, [and] make sure the party’s ground and data operations are humming for the general election.
But most importantly Whatley would need to wipe the surfaces clean of the taint of RINOism deposited by his predecessor Ronna Romney-McDaniel.
As Doug Heye, a former RNC spokesperson who has known Whatley for 20 years, said:
I think we’d be hard pressed to see the committee not ratify the person [Trump] wants.
There may be some work that has to be done on that … It may not be a unanimous vote. But it seems pretty clear that he’ll be there.
Whatley has spent decades in GOP politics, having served in the George W. Bush administration, as a top aide to former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and on the Trump-Pence transition team.
He has served as chair of the North Carolina GOP since 2019, and he has served as general counsel of the RNC since last year. Taken together, those two positions give him a familiarity with the inner workings of the committee and with many of the 168 members whose votes he’ll need to become chair.
During Whatley’s time as North Carolina GOP chair, Republicans flipped the state Supreme Court and solidified supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Republicans were unable to win back the governor’s mansion in 2020.
Whatley’s critics have pointed to his previous work in the Bush administration to paint him as the kind of Beltway insider Trump frequently rails against. And his win in last year’s North Carolina GOP elections prompted a legal challenge from his opponent, who alleged some ballots were improperly cast. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
Much of the focus around Whatley since his name first emerged as a possible successor to McDaniel has been on his efforts on “election integrity,” an issue the RNC zeroed in on as Trump and all of Conservatism have pushed the harm done by the 2020 stolen election.
Trump said in a statement endorsing Whatley:
Michael 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.
In a 2021 appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference panel on “protecting elections,” Whatley spoke at length about his efforts to recruit hundreds of attorneys and volunteer poll watchers in North Carolina.
He echoed some of Trump’s rhetoric about mail-in voting, having said:
[A]bsentee balloting can be done effectively when paired with voter ID requirements and pushing back on mass mailing ballots to residents.
Whatley noted:
[R]oughly 75 percent of the state [NC] GOP’s annual operating budget was dedicated to legal costs.
Something he suggested the party as a whole should mirror.
He explained:
This is going to have to be part of the Republican establishment going forward. This is going to be lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit.
Heye reiterated:
It’s Donald Trump’s RNC. Do we expect he’d back somebody who’s disagreeing with him publicly? No.
The reality is the party chair is going to be a reflection of the nominee.
Whatley’s election as chair would be one piece of a broader effort by Trump to shape the RNC to his liking ahead of the upcoming general election cycle.
In addition to endorsing Whatley, Trump backed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, for RNC co-chair. He also announced Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, would move to the RNC in what would effectively be the role of chief operating officer.
LaCivita’s installation gives Trump a trusted aide to oversee operations at the RNC while the house-cleaning is accomplished.
Trump is on track to be the party’s nominee atop the ticket in November, and Republicans demand he receives deference to put his preferred people in charge, as many nominees do.
The date of the vote on appointing Whatley is unclear and Dear RINO Ronna is expected to remain on as chair through the South Carolina primary Feb. 24. The committee would have to call a meeting to vote on her replacement if they are to do it before a scheduled summer gathering.
Heye said of Whatley:
He’ll hit the ground running, and this sort of lead up time allows him [to address] the larger issue of Trump.
Final thought: If these announced changes at the RNC come to fruition, We the People should be able to witness an improved RNC that is responsive to Conservatism.
God speed to President Trump.
