Michael Whatley

Thursday

Kara Kennedy

The ubiquitous Lara Trump

"Sorry, super busy,” replies someone from Lara Trump’s media team, after I texted to ask for an interview. "I’m working on her music stuff.” The Trumps love to multitask and, in the President’s first 100 days, King Donald’s favorite (that is, only) daughter-in-law has been showing off how hard she can work. Since the inauguration, and now free from the burdens of campaign politics, Lara has released a song called “No Days Off” with the rapper French Montana; a Saturday night show on Fox News; and an activewear collection in the color “MAGA red,” alongside her already established podcast, The Right View. Unfortunately, she has a different press person to dodge questions over each venture.

Friday

Amber Duke

‘It doesn’t change our approach’: RNC chair unfazed by Democrats’ ‘melting down’

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley defended changes to the GOP’s party platform, teased “surprise” speakers and shed insight into the party’s strategy to defeat President Joe Biden — or, potentially, another Democratic nominee — in a wide-ranging interview previewing next week’s convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Whatley told The Spectator that the convention, during which former president Donald Trump will officially receive the party’s nomination in the 2024 presidential race, will be about “highlighting everyday Americans.

michael whatley RNC

Thursday

Ben Domenech

Money, money, money, money: the GOP’s big 2024 problem

Welcome to Thunderdome. The Republican Party has new leadership, with North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley and daughter-in-law of the former president Lara Trump taking over an organization that will, in reality, be run by Chris LaCivita. They’ve already made one controversial but wise decision in demurring on the hiring of Scott Presler, a ballot harvester popular with the MAGA crowd. But they now confront the harsh reality of the RNC’s fundraising woes: they’re well behind the Joe Biden campaign and the DNC. The Democratic president’s campaign account officially reported taking in $21 million in February, according to its report filed with the Federal Election Commission late Wednesday, ending the month with $71 million cash on hand.

lara trump

Tuesday

Cockburn

The RNC becomes the Trump National Committee

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.

lara trump rnc

Wednesday

The Spectator

Mayorkas impeached by House GOP. Now what?

House Republicans successfully impeached Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a 214-213 vote on Tuesday after an initial failed attempt last week. Mayorkas is the first cabinet official to be impeached since 1876. Speaker Mike Johnson said Mayorkas “deserves to be impeached,” arguing that Mayorkas lied to Congress, refused to comply with federal immigration law and violated his oath of office. Impeachment articles accused Mayorkas of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”To say it is extremely unlikely that Mayorkas would be convicted by the Democrat-controlled Senate is an understatement. This serves as more of a symbolic measure for Republicans.