Chris LaCivita

Donald Trump and his freshly announced running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, held their first rally together Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Following his acceptance speech earlier this week at the RNC convention in Milwaukee, the rally marked Trump’s first time back on the campaign trail since surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. After being introduced by Vance, an energetic Trump appeared on stage without the white ear bandage he wore at his last public appearance. This one was replaced with a smaller, less conspicuous covering. Early in his speech, the Republican candidate distanced himself further from the “severe right” Project 2025, a policy and staffing operation led by the Heritage Foundation.

It was September of 2014 and Republicans were very nervous. A new poll showed Kansas senator Pat Roberts trailing his independent challenger Greg Orman by seven points. The GOP needed a net gain of six seats to win the Senate majority — and the last thing they needed to worry about was Democrats ousting one of their incumbents. The party called in Chris LaCivita, a retired Marine and longtime Republican operative with a reputation for taking no prisoners, to turn the race around. “Months out from Election Day, LaCivita went to the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee] and said, ‘Tell me what I need to know about this race because I’m flying out tomorrow and we’re gonna fuck shit up,’” a GOP consultant recalled.

Donald Trump has a plan to turn the Republic National Committee into a “seamless operation” — and it involves cleaning house. The RNC has historically been headed by presidential loyalists. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan's daughter, Maureen, even served as its chair. Still, recent shake-ups within the committee have Cockburn wondering if the RNC has become the TNC.  The overhauling of the RNC started earlier this week when sixty employees were told that they were no longer needed at the organization, including five senior staff, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The layoffs represent more than a quarter of the current 200-man staff.  The purge comes just days after Trump’s handpicked officers took over at the RNC.