Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump is trying to “buy” the 2024 election. to encourage former consultant, current campaign consultant and to his bride top GOP leadership positionetc.
“Now he’s decided he’s fired the RNC chair,” Haley said Tuesday morning at an event in her hometown of Bamberg, South Carolina, referring to Trump’s endorsement of Ronna McDaniel’s successor as chairman of the Republican National Committee. resign in the next few days. “He announced who will be the new RNC chair. His daughter-in-law will be the co-chair, and he’s making his campaign manager the party’s commanding officer.”
“Think about what’s happening right now,” he said. “Are you going to try the elections?”
At a separate event later in the day, Haley said Trump would “try to get the party to do what he wants.”
Reached for comment on Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NBC News: “Nikki ‘Brain Bird’ Haley reeks of desperation because she knows she has no shot and now she’s auditioning for a cable news contract after 15 minutes. But she , not before we can squeeze every last dollar out of Democrat donors.”
NBC News has reached out to Haley’s team for further comment on her remarks.
Trump confirmed this in a statement on Monday Michael Whatley to be The next head of the Republican National Committee and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump expressed their support for the co-presidency.
“I think my friend Michael Whatley should be the next leader of the RNC,” Trump said, adding that Whatley “has been with me from the beginning, he’s done a great job in his home state of North Carolina.”
Whatley serves as chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina and general counsel to the RNC. He previously worked on the Trump-Pence campaign and transition team.
Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, has far less political experience than Whatley. He helped his father-in-law’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns and was on air on Fox News.
During an interview with Newsmax that aired Tuesday night, Lara Trump said the RNC “must be the leanest, deadliest political war machine we’ve ever seen in American history.”
He added that if elected co-chairman, “every penny will go to the number one and only job of the RNC – which is to elect Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and save this country.”
In a statement Monday, Trump also said he was endorsing Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to his re-election campaign, to become the RNC’s chief operating officer.
There was last signs McDaniel may soon step down from his RNC leadership role, which he has held since January 2017. The New York Times and OneAssociated Press Among news outlets reporting he may leave office after the Feb. 24 GOP primary in South Carolina.
Trump, who has regularly made baseless claims that the last presidential election was “rigged” against him, has been charged by special counsel Jack Smith with attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election. He faced similar charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and pleaded not guilty to both.
Megan Lebowitz, Zoe Richards and Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.