Some RNC Staffers Refused to Vote for Trump in 2020, Book Claims
POWER STRUGGLE
Some Republican National Committee staffers refused to vote for former President Trump in the 2020 election, according to an upcoming book from Michael Bender, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Fox News obtained excerpts from the book, Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, that detail tensions between Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, who had replaced Brad Parscale, and RNC chair Ronna McDaniel. “One major change when Stepien took over as campaign manager was the reelection campaign’s relationship with the Republican National Committee. Friction remained from the 2016 race between Stepien and much of Ronna’s senior leadership team. Ronna was running the Michigan Republican Party during that race, but Stepien disapproved of her decision to keep many of those same RNC staffers in her orbit,” an excerpt reads.
McDaniel was reportedly “often left on the outside looking in.” “Stepien was correct to question the loyalty and dedication of Ronna’s staff to Trump. The president’s handling of Covid and the White House’s treatment of Ronna had top staffers inside the RNC openly musing—for the first time in their lives—about not voting for the Republican nominee for president. Ultimately, some did not cast their Election Day ballot for Trump,” the book alleges. An RNC spokesperson said the claims are “not true.” “There was no organization or team more dedicated to re-electing President Trump than the RNC,” the spokesperson said.