Now that Lara Trump, who once said that people should “get ahead by merit and merit alone,” is in charge, the Republican National Committee has a new question to determine the merit of all job candidates: Was the 2020 election stolen?
Trump and former North Carolina Republican Party head Michael Whatley took over the RNC at the beginning of the month. Both had been picked by her father-in-law, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, to replace Ronna McDaniel. Lara Trump and Whatley promptly purged all RNC staffers but allowed them to reapply for jobs with the organization.
The application process now includes an interview with Donald Trump advisers, The Washington Post reported Tuesday night, citing anonymous sources. One prospective employee, who is based in a key swing state, said they were asked, “Was the 2020 election stolen?”
Applicants told the Post they were startled by the question, which seemed more about measuring their loyalty to Donald Trump than their political acumen. While the questions about the 2020 election were reportedly open-ended, one former RNC employee pointed out that “if you say the elections wasn’t stolen, do you really think you’re going to get hired?”
Republican strategist Doug Heye, who worked as the RNC’s communications director, told the Post that the party has always expected staffers to mimic presidential candidates’ positions. “You’re there for that specific reason, to back the candidate up and go along with the worldview,” he said.
“The problem with Trumpism is that despite bringing in very smart and very capable people, if you want to play Trump’s game, you have to back him up on everything he says. Claims about the election being stolen is kind of the last frontier of that.”
The RNC has doubled down on promoting election fraud falsehoods. One of the organization’s first hires post-purge was Christina Bobb, a lawyer and outspoken election denier. Bobb will head the RNC’s new election integrity unit.
The new loyalty test in the application process shouldn’t be surprising now that Lara Trump is at the helm of the RNC. The former personal trainer, model, and cake decorator is running the RNC, all because she has sworn absolute loyalty to her father-in-law.