Ronna McDaniel, right, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary, hold a press conference to discuss disputes in Pennsylvania and to provide an overview of the post-election day landscape at the RNC at Capitol Hill on Monday, November 9, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The leaders of three top Republican Party committees on Wednesday praised former President Donald Trump for expressing his support for them, even as Trump is actively urging GOP donors to send their money directly to him.
The response from the committees was the latest indication that the GOP remains firmly in the grip of the former president, even as he trashed prominent party members who criticized him.
“We look forward to working with President Trump to recapture our majorities in Congress and deliver results for the American people,” said the joint statement by Republican National Commission Chairman Ronna McDaniel, National Chairman. Republican Senate Committee Rick Scott and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer. .
“The RNC, NRSC and NRCC are grateful for President Trump’s support both in the past and in the future,” the statement said. “His powerful agenda allowed us to break fundraising records and pick Republicans up and down.”
Trump, who is gaining overwhelming support among GOP voters even after losing his reelection bid, discourages Republicans from sending money to “people who don’t have the best interests of the GOP in mind.”
Those people are, according to Trump, an as-yet-unspecified group of “fools” and “RINOs” – a derogatory term for “Republicans in name only.”
Trump is instead leading people to his own political action committee, Save America. Donations to that committee, known as a leadership PAC, could potentially be used to pay for a variety of personal expenses.
Since losing to President Joe Biden, Trump has lashed out at numerous top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Conference Chairman Liz Cheney. He has continued to spread the baseless conspiracy theories and lies about electoral fraud that led to his exclusion from social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Over the past month, Trump has repeatedly asserted that there is “only one way” to keep the so-called America First movement alive – by contributing to his Save America PAC and through his website.
In his most recent statement Tuesday night, Trump said, “I fully support the Republican Party and major GOP committees, but I don’t support RINOs and fools.”
That statement claimed that by donating to Save America, “you are helping the America First movement and doing it right.”
Trump’s PAC has reportedly raised tens of millions of dollars since its inception after the Nov. 3 election. That money could be used for “just about anything” Trump wants, experts say – including providing benefits for himself and his family.
“It is entirely possible that Trump could use Save America to maintain control and influence over the Republican Party as well as to personally benefit himself and his family members,” Brendan Fischer, director of the Federal Reform Program, told the United States. Campaign Legal Center, on CNBC.
At the same time as Trump is pushing his own PAC, he is demanding that the GOP stop using his name and likeness in its own fundraising efforts.
Trump’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to the three GOP committees last week. On Monday, RNC chief adviser J. Justin Riemer rejected Trump’s demand, saying the organization has “every right to refer to public figures … and will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”
Wednesday’s statement from the RNC, NRSC and NRCC appeared to show that the GOP remains willing to invoke Trump’s brand in its fundraising messages.
Trump and the RNC raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the 2020 election cycle, as well as more than $ 200 million in the weeks before and after the election itself, as Trump aggressively propagated conspiracy theories of voter fraud.