Recently, Donald Trump announced his pick to succeed Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee: Michael Whatley, the current head of the North Carolina Republican Party. Whatley is far less well known nationally than Trump’s choice for co-chair, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. But for those of us in North Carolina, the choice of Whatley for the top spot makes a twisted sort of sense.
It’s clear that Trump is looking for an RNC leader who won’t hesitate to disenfranchise voters, rig elections or dismantle our democracy. And Whatley certainly fits that bill. As chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, he has helped lead efforts to defy the will of the people and infringe on North Carolinians’ rights. I would know because I’m the 26-year-old chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and I’ve seen the dangers of Whatley’s version of leadership up close.
North Carolina Republicans have worked repeatedly to take away the right to vote, and schemed to create rigged maps so that elected officials pick their voters.
For years, the Republican-led Legislature and Supreme Court have focused their agenda on taking away North Carolinians’ rights and hurting our economy. To protect their power, Republicans in North Carolina have worked repeatedly to take away the right to vote, and schemed to create rigged maps so that elected officials pick their voters — not the other way around. And when they’ve faced opposition, including from our twice-elected Gov. Roy Cooper, they’ve taken outrageous steps to expand their power.
As part of these efforts, Whatley has led the North Carolina GOP from extreme to even more extreme. He’s made banning abortion a priority for the state party, despite the majority of North Carolinians supporting access to abortion. He’s a proud and unapologetic election denier who repeatedly parroted debunked claims of “massive fraud” and “focused heavily on disproven claims of widespread voter fraud” in…
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