It’s now official, and Lara Lea Trump is the co-chair of the Republican National Committee. The amazing thing is not that she is now the co-chair of the RNC (though that’s pretty amazing, given her total lack of experience for the position), but that the rest of the Republican Party is okay with it. At least publicly, while muttering under their breath and gnashing their collective teeth.
Because, of course, they’re okay with it and not rising in public outrage. This is today’s Republican Cult, after all. If Trump wants to put his totally unqualified daughter-in-law in charge, that’s the way a cult seems to work. But no matter how much an entire party is fine with gutting itself for the sake of an adjudicated rapist and adjudicated fraud, with four indictments, it’s still amazing. After all, on the day that her father-in-law proposed her for the job, her official statement was that the point of the Republican National Committee was to elect her father-in-law and that all money will be going to him. (Which we can fairly assume means it will go to help pay off his legal debts, not go to his campaign.) Of course, the reality is that, no, the point of the RNC has never been to elect the president. That’s always been a part of their mission, but it’s mainly been to help the entire Republican Party, most especially all the down-ticket races across the country. And with Lara Lea Trump sitting there at the top – alongside a Trump-nominated election denier – it certainly seems like very little of RNC money will be going to help Republicans in races around the country. To be clear, I’m okay with this. It’s just weird that Republicans are, too. At least on the surface. Certainly, there have been rumblings of discontent underneath. There’s has to be. Just because you give up your soul doesn’t mean you can’t still grumble as you sink into the abyss. As evidence of the mutterings of discontent, Lara Lea Trump wanted the party to know about “patriots all the way down the ticket being supported.” This assurance was given from the daughter-in-law of the megalomaniac who promised that Melania Trump would be holding a press conference about her immigration status in two weeks. That was eight years ago in 2016. And promised that he would be presenting a big, beautiful new healthcare bill in two weeks. He promised this in 2016. And 2017. And then in 2018 – several times. And promised he would be releasing his tax returns as soon as they were finished being audited. (Even though there’s no law against making one’s tax returns public at any time.) And the list goes ever on… So, you can take a Lara Lea Trump assurance to the bank. Just don’t apply for a big loan that you are certain you can pay back based on a Trump Promise. After all, even Lara Lea left herself a big loophole and never said how much the patriots all the way down the ticket would be supported. (“Here, kid, here’s a quarter. But yourself an ice cream and a car.”) Even if (and it’s a massive “if”) money gets spent down-ticket, it’s near-impossible to think that the bulk won’t go to Trump. After all, why make your unqualified, inexperienced daughter-in-law co-chair of the Republican National Committee? The only honestly-imaginable reason is to watch and control the purse strings heavily in your favor. And that perception isn't helped by the reality that since Lara Lea Trump and her election-denying, Trump appointed partner took over, they...well, took over. And fired all the RNC leadership and around 60 lower-level staffers who make the whole thing run. All to be replaced by Trump loyalists, no doubt. After all, why make your unqualified, inexperienced daughter-in-law co-chair of the Republican National Committee? The problems with this are massive. First, the money will likely be shifted to Trump to pay his massive legal bills and fines (the latter now being over $600 million). That means he and the RNC still have to raise a billion dollars and more for the presidential campaign. Second, how many major donors will want to make their standard massive donations to the RNC, knowing that it will only be going to pay Trump’s legal bills and fines? Third, similarly, how many basic donors will want to do the same? Fourth, what will down-ticket candidates across the country do without the infusion of cash they always expect from the Republican National Committee? Most surely, people will donate to individual candidates. But many smaller candidates don’t have the operations in place to do the national fund-raising needed to replace the money they were expecting from the RNC. And only the most high-profile races and candidates are likely to get the most individual donations. I have no doubt that the Republican National Committee will figure out something to do. But whether what they figure out will be enough to not only impact the party across the country like it’s supposed to, and whether they’ll be able to get over the suspicion of everyone that with the unqualified, inexperienced daughter-in-law of Trump as co-head of the RNC (along with Trump-appointed election denier Michael Whately), everything she said in her original statement about the point of the RNC is to elect Trump and all the money will be going to him isn’t the reality, regardless of whatever she and the RNC insist later. Especially when her first insisted to the contrary is as laughably weak as “patriots all the way down the ticket being supported.” But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. And sometimes that isn’t a metaphor, but literal.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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