Tag: RNC

Sinking Trump seeks to squash GOP dissent

The Hill logoPresident Trump is seeking to squash lingering dissent within the GOP, lashing out at Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and former Bush administration official Tom Ridge after the two offered implicit and explicit criticism of the president.

The intraparty spats come as some cracks show in Trump’s typically overwhelming support among Republicans.

Polls show Trump trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by significant margins in some key battleground states, raising fears among some Republicans that the party will lose both the White House and Senate in November. A new poll on Thursday showed Trump 13 points behind Biden in Florida. Continue reading.

Trump cancels Jacksonville portion of GOP convention

Axios logoPresident Trump says he’s canceled the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida, citing health concerns over the coronavirus and a need to protect the public.

What he’s saying: Trump made the announcement from the White House briefing room, saying he would still give a speech accepting the nomination “in a different form,” and that delegates still would convene in Charlotte, N.C., earlier that week as planned for party business. Trump claims he told his team “the timing for this event is not right, it’s just not right,” adding, “I have to protect the American people.”

Our thought bubble:In the wake of the Tulsa rally debacle, where many of Trump’s elderly supporters stayed away for fear of COVID-19, Trump’s aides have been urging him to publicly address their concerns. Continue reading.

Trump’s unpaid security bills are finally catching up with him as Florida sheriff reveals he can’t secure RNC convention

AlterNet logoRepublicans have one month to pull off their convention in Florida, where the coronavirus has gotten so bad that some municipalities are starting to talk about shutting down again.

Politico reported Monday that the sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida is in a particularly difficult spot as the convention day approaches. He explained that the “lack of clear plans, adequate funding and enough law enforcement officers” means he can no longer provide security for the event.

“As we’re talking today, we are still not close to having some kind of plan that we can work with that makes me comfortable that we’re going to keep that event and the community safe,” said Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams. “It’s not my event to plan, but I can just tell you that what has been proposed in my opinion is not achievable right now … from a law enforcement standpoint, from a security standpoint.” Continue reading.

GOP attacks Biden for ‘audacity’ to say ‘all people are created equal’

An RNC spokesperson called the notion of equality for all people ‘radical-left socialism.’

A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee slammed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for saying “all people are created equal.”

During an appearance on Fox News on July 5, RNC spokesperson Liz Harrington criticized an op-ed Biden published on NBC News’ website on the Fourth of July.

In the op-ed, Biden says that Independence Day is a celebration of “the natural expansion of our founding notion from ‘all men are created equal’ to ‘all people are created equal and should be treated equally throughout their lives.'” Continue reading.

How the Republican Convention Created Money Woes in Two Cities

New York Times logoDonors are wondering why they gave to a Charlotte event that has mostly been scrapped. And Jacksonville fund-raisers find money is on hold because of concerns about the surge in virus cases.

WASHINGTON — The abrupt uprooting of the Republican National Convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville has created a tangled financial predicament for party officials as they effectively try to pay for two big events instead of one.

Tens of millions of dollars have already been spent in a city that will now host little more than a G.O.P. business meeting, and donors are wary of opening their wallets again to bankroll a Jacksonville gathering thrown into uncertainty by a surge in coronavirus cases.

Organizers are trying to assuage vexed Republicans who collectively gave millions of dollars for a Charlotte event that has mostly been scrapped. The host committee there has spent virtually all of the $38 million it raised before the convention was moved, leaving almost nothing to return to donors, or to pass on to the new host city. Continue reading.

Trump’s convention bash upended by Florida’s coronavirus crisis

MIAMI — President Donald Trump redirected the Republican National Convention to Florida after North Carolina’s Democratic governor couldn’t “guarantee” a full venue in August because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But with coronavirus cases skyrocketing in Florida as Trump’s poll numbers drop in his must-win battleground state, it looks like the president won’t get his full-blown festivities there, either.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close Trump ally, refused to say on Tuesday whether he would lift a rule mandating that indoor gatherings stay under 50 percent capacity — which would hold the Jacksonville convention to 7,500 people. Two octogenarian GOP senators, Lamar Alexander and Chuck Grassley, announced they wouldn’t attend the convention amid the pandemic, which has hit the elderly the hardest. Continue reading. Continue reading.

Jacksonville to host 2020 Republican National Convention

The most prominent parts of the Republican National Convention are coming to Jacksonville, including President Trump’s acceptance speech

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Thursday night that Jacksonville, Florida has been selected as the host city to celebrate the renomination of President Donald J. Trump.

Jacksonville is going to be in the national spotlight in late August as the River City hosts major parts of the Republican National Convention for the first time. It’s also the first time in history that the convention will be split, as some of the business parts of the event will still be held in Charlotte, the original host city.

President Trump and the GOP pulled the convention from North Carolina because the Governor would not guarantee that a full crowd would be allowed inside the city’s 19,000-seat Spectrum Center for events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including nomination acceptance speeches by President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Instead those events, along with many of the publicly viewed parts of the convention, will be held in Jacksonville’s 15,000-seat Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Jacksonville beat out other cities under consideration including Nashville, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Orlando.  Republican Mayor Lenny Curry lobbied publicly for the event to be held on the First Coast and Governor Ron Desantis said the state would welcome the event with open arms.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel repeatedly voted by mail — before suing California for expanding the practice

AlterNet logoRepublican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel frequently voted by mail before leading a lawsuit against California over the state’s mail voting expansion, according to voting records.

McDaniel announced on Sunday that the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the California Republican Party had sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom after he announced that all registered voters in the state would receive mail-in ballots for the upcoming elections.

“Newsom’s illegal power grab is a recipe for disaster that would destroy the confidence Californians deserve to have in the security of their vote,” she said in a statement. Continue reading.

RNC Gave Big Contracts To Chair McDaniel’s Husband, Cronies

The Republican National Committee has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors closely connected to the organization’s chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel.

One contract went to her husband’s insurance company. Two others went to businesses whose executives recently donated to Ronna for Chair, a largely inactive political action committee that McDaniel controls. She had set it up in 2015, when she successfully ran for chair of the Republican Party in Michigan, her home state.

The companies won the contracts soon after McDaniel became the party’s top official. She was picked for the position by President Donald Trump after the 2016 election. Continue reading.

How the Trump Campaign Took Over the G.O.P.

New York Times logoThe president’s campaign manager and his allies commandeered Republican voter data and fund-raising engines, consolidating power —  and profiting – in ways never before possible.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s campaign manager and a circle of allies have seized control of the Republican Party’s voter data and fund-raising apparatus, using a network of private businesses whose operations and ownership are cloaked in secrecy, largely exempt from federal disclosure.

Working under the aegis of Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, with the cooperation of Trump appointees at the Republican National Committee, the operatives have consolidated power — and made money — in a way not possible in an earlier, more transparent analog era. Since 2017, businesses associated with the group have billed roughly $75 million to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and a range of other Republican clients.

The takeover of the Republican Party’s under-the-hood political machinery parallels the president’s domination of a party that once shunned him, reflected in his speedy impeachment trial and summary acquittal. Elected Republicans have learned the political peril of insufficient fealty. Now, by commanding the party’s repository of voter data and creating a powerful pipeline for small donations, the Trump campaign and key party officials have made it increasingly difficult for Republicans to mount modern, digital campaigns without the president’s support. Continue reading.