Posted on 02/13/2024 9:05:26 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Amid growing confusion as to whether Ronna McDaniel would actually be stepping down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Donald Trump appeared to put an end to speculation Monday night by releasing a slate of endorsements for her replacement.
As RedState reported last week, Trump's choice for the new RNC chair is Michael Whatley, who currently chairs Republican Party of North Carolina.
Announcing his endorsement of Whatley, Trump cited his strong record on promoting election integrity:
The RNC MUST be a good partner in the Presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national Party and do it flawlessly. That means helping to ensure 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!
For these reasons, I think my friend Michael Whatley should be the RNC’s next leader. 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.
Despite being a traditionally conservative state, Whatley is considered to have done a great job in managing the party's prospects in North Carolina, where they hold a supermajority that has allowed them to override the vetoes of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper on key issues such as election integrity.
As well as chairing the state party, Whatley serves as general counsel for the national RNC, a position he was appointed to in February 2022, despite having never formally practiced law.
According to his bio on the RNC website, Whatley is a North Carolina native who before becoming chairman of the party worked as a federal law clerk. He was also a senior official in the George W. Bush Administration, as Chief of Staff for US Senator Elizabeth Dole, as a Senior Advisor to the Bush-Cheney Campaign, Florida Recount and Transition Teams, and the Trump-Pence Campaign and Transition Teams.
Whatley's experience with the 2000 Florida recount that eventually handed George W. Bush the presidency may be of particular interest to Trump, given the very real prospect of another disputed election in which both refuse to concede.
He is also understood to be personally loyal to Trump. He actively backs Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was heavily influenced by fraud and under his leadership the party censured former North Carolina Senator Richard Burr after he voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial.
However, Whatley is not popular in all circles. Last July, he was sued by his own party members over allegations that there were "irregularities" in the voting process for his own re-election and flouting of various rules that he himself had written. Among their complaints was the use of a mobile voting app that did not show the voter's location (NCGOP bylaws require the delegate to be physically in the room to vote) and malfunctioned repeatedly as opposed to paper ballots.
The lawsuit stated:
At the very least, the NCGOP’s Vice Chair is sitting in a position of power having not been elected in accordance with the Party’s Plan of Organization and the State Convention Rules. The current NCGOP Chair was elected through a process that defied the on-floor, in-person voting requirements set out in the State Convention Rules, calling the Party leadership’s legitimacy into question, much less the NCGOP’s own public pronouncements regarding election integrity.
Others, meanwhile, have attempted to paint Whatley as an establishment figure given his history of working with the Bush administration:
Kevin McCarthy is not MAGA. He's a grifter.
Tim Scott is not MAGA. He's a Glitch McConnell guy.
Michael Whatley is not MAGA. He's a Bushie.
These are terrible choices to staff President Trump.— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) February 13, 2024
I find it both adorable and sad that people think Trump is going to back an America First GOP Chair.
He wants NC GOP Chair Michael Whatley for the job.
Whatley’s pedigree is the Bush 43 admin, Bush-Cheney campaign, and CoS for Elizabeth Dole.
No one is more establishment.— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) February 7, 2024
If you thought Ronna McDaniel was #GOPe swamp, wait til you meet Michael Whatley...
"Prior to his service with the Republican Party, Chairman Whatley served as a federal law clerk, senior official in the George W. Bush Administration and as the Chief of Staff for US Senator…— Rick Shaftan -- Neighborhood Research and Media (@Shaftan) February 13, 2024
Trump's nominee to run the RNC, Michael Whatley, has been in Republican politics for 40 years.
A former Bush campaign staffer and administration official.
The type of guy who if anyone but Trump had endorsed him, would be absolutely despised by Trump's base.— Sunny (@sunnyright) February 13, 2024
RINO RNC MEMBER FROM NORTH CAROLINA MICHAEL WHATLEY IS ATTEMPTING TO RUN FOR RNC CHAIR
HE IS A SWAMP CREATURE & THE MALE VERSION OF RONNA ROMNEY MCDANIEL—AND NOT TO BE TRUSTED
CALL EVERY RNC MEMBER & DEMAND THEY VOTE HELL NO ON WHATLEY!!!— Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) February 7, 2024
Although Trump's endorsement will inevitably carry significant weight, there are no guarantees that Whatley will assume the role. Under RNC rules, members have the chance to vote to elect the chairman via a voting process. As reported by RedState's Jennifer Van Laar, RNC members who spoke to RedState said nothing had been confirmed until the body meets after the South Carolina primary later this month.
I moved to NC from TN about 13 years ago and new I was getting into a purple area.
The fact that NC has a super-majority in the legislature has muted our left-wing governor.
Get the reins on those fake ballots in Durham and its over.
Trump won 2020 here and the state election goes to Cooper?
Durham.
Socialism has no place in The Old North State.
Whatley seems a credible choice: he knows how the state and national GOP party organizations work; he has political experience; and Trump wants him, apparently with Lara Trump to keep an eye on things. After that, the prospects for the RNC depend on the same thing that usually decides organizational success or failure: having a good plan and good staff who are dedicated and know what they are doing. Call me an optimist at rating that as even odds.
Oh really? -
‘The RNC MUST be a good partner in the Presidential election.’
He demonstrated this eloquently in the debates he took part in to tear down the establishment squishes they tried to push on us outside of trump.
Most certainly his surrogates did plenty to debase the discussion to name-calling (and Trump) and now we need an establishment focus on fighting for him.
I think he did more damage to coalescing the fight against communists than helping - so be it. No way I vote for the opposition to American values - too bad we got a TV character running for our side. Not too confident the battle at home will be handled with diligence or success.
Too bad.
He’s a Bushie RINO who has done such a bad job that they have elected and re-elected a Democrat governor in a red state.
Typical.
I cannot speak for him as I do not know much about him, but it wasn't his fault. I have lived in NC and have for decades. Gov McCory (Republican) ensured that a democratic candidate would replace him. McCory was the ultimate RINO, dancing to the RINOs' songs in Charlotte. The fact that he was an idiot did not help. McCory did not ignore his base, he abused them, so they stayed home.
String citing a bunch of posts from a blog proves nothing. Do you not think that there are armies of people posting to blogs (this and others) strategically stirring up noise? Whatley has Trump’s confidence, for the moment at least. That’s good enough until proven otherwise. And proof is not found in blog posts.
Here’s the process to elect RNC Chair ....
“Under RNC rules, three members from each state and U.S. territory (the state or territory’s party chair, one committeeman, and one committeewoman) cast ballots for chair, accounting for 168 votes, of which a majority is 85”
I know Whatley personally.
I have worked with him as an APO over 40 GOP Precinct Chairs here in District 12 in NC. (He was part of this district or the adjoining district depending on the redistricting map.)
Whatley is a huge Trump Supporter. And, he is the reason there was no 4AM vote drop here in NC. He is a fighter. That is why Trump likes him so much.
Donald Trump told Whatley, “Michael, I really like North Carolina. When I went to bed on election night I had a small lead in North Carolina. When I woke up the next morning, I had a small lead in North Carolina.”
Thanks for the insight.
Good to know. I like your insight wading through all the noise.
Reasonable selectivity for anyone for a job in D.C. is at a minimum and a risk one never know who will flip or when and what is their price line to do so.
He better be very careful on everyone he selects it’s a mine field.
Trust in Trump is good to fire them if they make the wrong move he learned a lot last time.
This shouldn’t be a difficult choice, I can’t understand why the party chair is typically a lame loser, like the party GOP chair in NYS - Ed Cox.
So how did Cooper get re-elected under Whatley’s watch?
No, that is not “good enough.” Trump has made some horrendous personnel choices and equally bad endorsements.
The guy’s a RINO through and through, like Ronna, whom Trump endorsed against two more conservative candidates, and for whom Trump quietly “whipped” votes.
Whatley has been intimately involved with the Bush network and has a losing record in NC.
And the sheer nepotism of putting his daughter in law as co-chair doesn’t bother you even a little?
Whatley is a Bush network RINO who happens to have glommed onto Trump, and personal loyalty to him — not any Republican success or ideologial commitment — is what matters to Trump.
Isn’t he that dancer?
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