Former President Donald Trump announced Monday night his preferred pick to head the Republican National Committee — and replace current Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel — and endorsed his daughter-in-law for the committee's co-chair. The GOP frontrunner voiced support for his "friend" Michael Whatley, the RNC's general counsel and a supporter of his false voter fraud claims, and “my very talented daughter-in-law, Lara Trump,” to act as party leaders, according to The New York Times.
"The RNC MUST be a good partner in the presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national Party and do it flawlessly," Trump said in a statement, explaining that that work is to ensure "fair and transparent elections" nationwide and boost voter turnout. “Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for,” Trump added of the wife of his second son, Eric. “She has told me she wants to accept this challenge and would be GREAT!”
Leah Wright Rigueur, a Johns Hopkins University professor and political historian, on Tuesday called out the former president's push for his daughter-in-law to assume the leadership role.
"I think his policy is one of nepotism," Rigueur told CNN in a clip flagged by RawStory. "He firmly believes in that, and part of it is because it is a way of enforcing an agenda and an outlook that holds close to him. What better way than to have a daughter-in-law or a family member in a position of power when you need them to be in a position of power?"
Republicans, she added, have a "delusional belief" that they can corral Trump when that is not the reality. "This is Donald Trump's party and right now, he is putting things in place and in position to ensure that you cannot control him," Rigueur said.
"Classic autocratic move. Turning politics into a funnel of personal profit requires the party be subordinated to (crime) family interests," added NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian of authoritarianism, fascism and propaganda.
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