About
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for developing the policy platform and raising funds for the Republican Party. Since the 2020 election, it has become increasingly more extreme as former President Trump has tightened his grip on the organization.
In March 2024, longtime Chair Ronna McDaniel (née Romney) — who had led the organization since 2017— was forced out for not being more willing to lie about the legitimacy of the 2020 election or supportive of the former president’s continued claims of voter fraud. Her ouster made way for a new leadership, including Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who wasted no time in amping up the election denialism message.
A month after she took over as co-chair, with former North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley replacing McDaniel, the RNC sent out a robocall to Republican voters saying, in part: “We all know the problems. No photo IDs, unsecured ballot drop boxes, mass mailing of ballots, and voter rolls chock full of deceased people and non-citizens are just a few examples of the massive fraud that took place [in 2020]. If Democrats have their way, your vote could be canceled out by someone who isn’t even an American citizen.”
To complete his takeover of the RNC in 2024, Trump also installed two of his senior advisers, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, to serve as chief of staff and chief political strategist, respectively. Both men also continue in their roles as advisers to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
By April 2024, alarming news broke that the RNC had tapped “the fervent election denialist Christina Bobb” to run its so-called “election integrity” unit. A former Trump lawyer and ex-reporter for the far-right One America News Network, she gained attention after the 2020 election for promoting bogus claims of voter fraud in Arizona, Wisconsin and elsewhere, and was part of Trump-backed efforts to substitute fake electors for ones that Joe Biden had actually won in certain swing states.
The RNC supports voter suppression measures such as voter ID requirements, voter roll purges, and prohibiting third-party ballot collection.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, 147 congressional Republicans refused to certify President Biden’s win of the 2020 presidential election, a move that appears to have been sanctioned by the RNC.
- In early 2022, the RNC described the insurrection as “legitimate political discourse” in a statement censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for serving on the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.
The Big Lie
- The RNC backed the Big Lie by using its social media accounts to push Trump attorney Sidney Powell’s frivolous lawsuits claiming election fraud.
- After the 2020 presidential election, the RNC stuck by their candidate by both encouraging and not discouraging GOP leaders across the country from casting doubt on the legitimacy of the voting process.
- In early 2021, the RNC supported the many members of Congress who not only objected to certifying the Electoral College results, but also voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection, among other measures.
- Throughout 2021, at least 132 Republican members of Congress publicly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election or falsely claimed the election system in the U.S. is unreliable and subject to fraud.