{"id":1033914,"date":"2024-05-24T18:23:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T18:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1033914"},"modified":"2024-05-24T18:23:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T18:23:51","slug":"trumps-election-denying-rnc-leaders-michael-whatley-and-lara-trump-descend-on-nc-gop-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-election-denying-rnc-leaders-michael-whatley-and-lara-trump-descend-on-nc-gop-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Election-Denying RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump Descend on NC GOP Convention\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump prepare to speak at the North Carolina GOP convention this weekend, <\/em>DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump hand-picked Michael Whatley and Lara Trump to lead the RNC because above all, he knows he can count on them to push lies about the 2020 election and back him up as he refuses to commit to accepting this November\u2019s results. Now, Trump\u2019s deploying Whatley and Lara Trump on an anti-freedom, anti-democracy, conspiracy-theory trip to North Carolina to spread his toxic agenda. Under Whatley and Lara Trump, the RNC will keep doing what they do best: ensure that Trump\u2019s desperate campaign and extreme agenda will deliver them embarrassing losses across the country in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump elevated notorious election deniers Lara Trump and Michael Whatley to lead the RNC as part of his MAGA takeover. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cMr. Trump likes Mr. Whatley for one overwhelming reason, according to people who have discussed him with the former president: He is \u2018a stop the steal guy,\u2019<\/strong> as one of the people described him. He endorses Mr. Trump\u2019s false claims about mass voter fraud \u2026 Mr. Whatley has baselessly claimed that election security efforts from Republicans in North Carolina stopped Democrats from cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cPeople seeking employment at RNC asked whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cTrump\u2019s Man at the R.N.C. Will Face Pressure to Satisfy His Election Lies\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Magazine<\/a>: \u201cTrump Taps Election Deniers Lara Trump, Michael Whatley to Lead RNC\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/a>: \u201cIn pushing Michael Whatley as the next leader of the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump zeroed in on the North Carolina GOP chairman\u2019s dedication to \u2018election integrity,\u2019 baselessly suggesting he would ensure the 2024 race \u2018can\u2019t be stolen.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Whatley has consistently pushed the Big Lie, and Trump has made clear he\u2019s counting on Whatley to push election denialism and conspiracies heading into this year\u2019s election.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump repeated his false claims of the 2020 election being stolen and said that Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley was the most important person in the room because he is \u2018going to stop the cheating.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018We call it save the vote, guard the vote, stop the steal,\u2019 he said, referring to what the RNC needed to be doing. The RNC has launched a program called \u2018Bank Your Vote\u2019 to bring in early votes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cLikely frontrunner for RNC chair parroted Trump\u2019s 2020 election lies\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, shared false claims that Republican observers were prevented from accessing polling locations and repeatedly said Democratic cities in swing states were engaged in \u2018massive fraud.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis elevation to RNC chair could give Trump a loyalist more willing to devote resources to pursue future voter fraud claims in court should they arise.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Regardless of how these lawsuits come out around the country with the presidential race we do know that there was massive fraud that took place,\u2019 Whatley said in one late November 2020 interview on local North Carolina radio. \u2018We know that it took place in places like Milwaukee and Detroit and Philadelphia.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raleigh News & Observer<\/a>: \u201cWhatley has frequently repeated Trump\u2019s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice<\/a>: \u201cNorth Carolina Republican chair Michael Whatley falsely claimed in February that \u2018we certainly saw evidence of voting irregularities, of election counting irregularities in a number of places around the country,\u2019 and invented the claim that the reason Trump won North Carolina was his state party\u2019s vigilance against Democrats\u2019 attempts to cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lara Trump is a self-described \u201cultra-MAGA\u201d extremist who continues to push baseless lies about the 2020 election.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allan Smith, NBC News<\/a>: \u201cLara Trump, embracing \u2018ultra-MAGA\u2019 label, says it\u2019s \u2018nothing to be ashamed of\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cRNC under Lara Trump spreads \u2018massive fraud\u2019 claims about 2020 election\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Matters<\/a>: \u201cOn her podcast, RNC co-chair Lara Trump says she doesn\u2019t believe 81 million people voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lara Trump<\/a>: \u201cBecause here\u2019s the goal, folks. I don\u2019t ever \u2013\u00a0and I know you don\u2019t either \u2013\u00a0want to repeat 2020 and the atrocities of that election ever again.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lara Trump<\/a> at the CA GOP Convention: \u201cThe bulk of the staff you will see in our building is focused solely on election integrity. Because let\u2019s be honest, we can never repeat 2020 ever again. We\u2019re never going to do that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lara Trump ahead of January 6<\/a>: \u201cWe want to make sure that if there is a contested vote, anybody who doesn\u2019t want to certify the votes for Joe Biden, that they get their chance to debate that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump prepare to speak at the North Carolina GOP convention this weekend, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:  \u201cDonald Trump hand-picked Michael Whatley and Lara Trump to lead the RNC because above all, he knows he can count on them to push lies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Election-Denying RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump Descend on NC GOP Convention\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-election-denying-rnc-leaders-michael-whatley-and-lara-trump-descend-on-nc-gop-convention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-24T18:23:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-election-denying-rnc-leaders-michael-whatley-and-lara-trump-descend-on-nc-gop-convention\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-election-denying-rnc-leaders-michael-whatley-and-lara-trump-descend-on-nc-gop-convention\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Election-Denying RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump Descend on NC GOP Convention\u00a0 - 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