Lara Trump has been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, her father-in-law, since his first election and was endorsed by him to head the Republican National Committee.
"Lara is a truly talented communicator and is dedicated to all of MAGA's missions. She told me she wanted to take on the challenge and do it well," former President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that he would support his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to become co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) alongside his nominee , politician Michael Whatley.
Trump's announcement could turn his daughter-in-law Lara into one of his most powerful allies in the Republican Party's top leadership as the former president attempts to become the party's official candidate for the White House.
Lara was born on October 12, 1982, and grew up in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. She received her bachelor's degree in communications from North Carolina State University and later earned a degree in pastry arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York.
She married Eric Trump in late 2014 after six years of dating. The couple have two children together, son Luke born in 2017 and daughter Carolina born in 2019. She was a member of the board of directors of the Eric Trump Foundation, which is no longer active after many allegations of misuse of funds.
Lara also served as an associate producer on CBS's popular Inside Edition for five years. She decided to leave CBS during the last two months of Trump's 2016 campaign to support her father-in-law.
"When they're reporting on your family on the show that you work on, it's a little challenging. We tried to keep things balanced, but it's definitely better not having to worry about that every day," she said of her decision to leave CBS.
Former President Donald Trump (left) and daughter-in-law Lara Trump in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 23. Photo: AP
Since then, Lara has contributed heavily to Mr. Trump's election campaigns as well as during his time as US president.
During the 2016 campaign, Lara was in charge of the Women's Empowerment Tour for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. After her father-in-law was elected, she became a fundraiser for him.
She continues to serve as a senior adviser to the former president's 2020 re-election campaign and regularly appears on television to discuss Trump's re-election bid. She also hosts Trump's weekly news show Real News Update and attends numerous "Women for Trump" events across the country.
Lara was one of the speakers at the "Save America" rally with her husband Eric and Mr. Trump before the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
Observers consider Lara to be a woman with great political ambitions. She seriously considered running for a Senate seat in North Carolina before the 2022 midterm elections, but ultimately declined to run.
With the support of Mr. Trump, who is leading the race for the Republican nomination, Lara is facing a great opportunity to become the leader of the RNC.
The RNC is the governing body of the Republican Party in the United States and runs the party's political apparatus. The committee consists of 168 elected members, including at least one woman and one man from each state.
The RNC chair, who works in Washington, coordinates day-to-day operations and makes strategic decisions. The position is elected by the committee’s 168 members to a two-year term. When a Republican candidate is elected president, committee members typically choose a leader based on his or her preferences.
This is why, after being elected in 2016, Mr. Trump was able to choose Ronna McDaniel to become the chairwoman of the RNC. McDaniel, niece of Utah Senator Mitt Romney, was the Republican Party leader in Michigan and is a famous person in the party.
Mr. Trump’s nomination was approved by RNC members in January 2017, and McDaniel has led the committee ever since. In that role, she has raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain and expand the party’s state offices and coordinate the 2020 and 2024 presidential nomination processes.
But Ms. McDaniel has increasingly come under fire from Republicans, with Trump allies complaining that she has been irresponsible with the committee’s budget. Recent campaign finance reports show the RNC has just $8 million in the bank and $1 million in debt.
North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley speaks in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 9, 2023. Photo: AP
Many believe that the RNC under McDaniel’s leadership has not focused on the election fraud allegations that Mr. Trump has made after his 2020 defeat. Mr. Trump’s team has lost more than 50 lawsuits related to those allegations.
The friction with McDaniel and the RNC grew when Trump announced early last year that he would refuse to participate in the party debates or sign a pledge to support the Republican nominee. In October 2023, he called on the RNC to cancel the remaining debates and instead focus on a potential rematch with Biden. The RNC has not heeded his call.
Mr Trump's desire to change the leadership of the RNC may be aimed at appeasing leaders of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement while ensuring he has close allies, including family members, running the organisation.
Observers say Lara, who was once seen as Mr. Trump's secret campaign weapon, is a suitable choice for Mr. Trump and the RNC's rules, which require the top two leaders to be both male and female.
After receiving Trump's endorsement, Lara declared that if she became RNC co-chair, "every penny of the committee will be dedicated to the sole mission of electing Donald Trump as president and saving this country."
Thanh Tam (According to AP, USA Today, Fox News )
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