The new Republican National Committee leadership team is firing members of its staff as it gears up for November’s presidential election.
Chairman Michael Watley and Co-chairwoman Lara Trump began work in their new positions on Monday and appear to have been busy at work. Multiple RNC staffers were fired on Monday, and a total of 60 members are expected to be let go, according to multiple news outlets. One source reportedly described the scene as an “absolute bloodbath.”
Workers in the data, political, and communications departments were sent emails of their firings, which said, “During this process, certain staff are being asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team.” The emails were confirmed by the Washington Examiner.
“Every RNC regional political director and every RNC state political director, the latter of which are mostly limited to battleground states, has been told to resign but given the option of reapplying,” a source told the Washington Examiner, adding that some senior staff, such as political director Elliot Echols, “were expressly told they could not reapply.”
Five members of the senior staff were reportedly targeted in the purge. The firings were framed as cutting down on bureaucracy and reevaluating the organization’s vision.
A source familiar with the RNC told the Washington Examiner that Whatley “is familiar with the building and existing team as GC and has a plan for repositioning the organization to focus on getting out the vote and securing the ballot, the two key priorities for the organization this year.”
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Donald Trump hand-picked Whatley and his daughter-in-law to lead the RNC after former Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced she was resigning. Donald Trump’s son Eric’s wife immediately made her intentions clear that she would spend “every single penny” of RNC funds to get her father-in-law reelected.
An attempt by an RNC committeeman to keep the committee separate from Donald Trump failed, allowing the former president to have the RNC’s complete backing before he becomes the Republican nominee for president.
