Trump campaign rips draft RNC resolutions to contain him, not pay his legal bills

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign slammed two draft resolutions making the rounds in the Republican National Committee to pump the brakes on his third straight likely cruise to the party’s presidential nomination.

The first resolution would mandate the RNC remain neutral in the nominating contest until he secures the necessary 1,215 delegates, while the second would ensure the party doesn’t foot his legal bills.

“The primary is over and it is the RNC’s sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House,” senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said in a statement.

“Efforts to delay that assist Joe Biden in the destruction of our nation. Republicans cannot stand on the sidelines and allow this to happen.”

LaCivita is Trump’s pick to become the party’s chief operating officer. Trump is also pushing for his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to serve as party co-chair, and North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley to replace Ronna McDaniel as the party chair.

Both draft resolutions were furnished by Henry Barbour, an RNC committee member from Mississippi. They were reported Sunday by The Dispatch.

They come ahead of the RNC’s March 7-9 meeting in Houston, during which McDaniel is expected to step aside in keeping with Trump’s wishes.

Additionally, the resolutions are seen as a counter to a separate resolution that made the rounds back in January to crown Trump the presumptive nominee.

That resolution was championed by David Bossie, an RNC committeeman from Maryland who previously served as deputy Trump campaign manager in 2016.

Bossie crafted that resolution on the heels of Trump’s resounding victories in Iowa and New Hampshire. He argued that it was overwhelmingly clear that the 45th president would clinch the nomination and that the RNC should acknowledge that and shift gears to the general election.

Amid a wave of backlash, Trump ultimately opposed the measure, arguing that “for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan.” Bossie then pulled the draft resolution.

To get enacted, a draft resolution must get the green light from the 168-member party apparatus.

In the past, the RNC has footed some of Trump’s legal expenses, but cut that off around the time he threw his hat into the ring for reelection in November 2022.

Lara Trump drew attention to that when she recently suggested voters would be interested in having the RNC pay for Trump’s legal bills.

“Absolutely. That’s why you’ve seen a GoFundMe get started,” she told reporters at a gaggle, referring to a GoFundMe established to help Trump pay his $355 million civil fraud damages.

A senior Trump adviser later poured cold water on that notion.

Looming over all of this is the fact that the RNC’s books are in somewhat dire straits.

Last year, the organization took in $87.2 million and finished off 2023 with roughly $8 million cash on hand, per the Federal Election Commission.

That marks some of its worst fundraising figures in about a decade. In fact, if adjusted for inflation, that would clock in as the RNC’s worst fundraising haul since 1993.

The Democrat National Committee, by contrast, raked in $119 million and concluded the year with around $21 million cash on hand, according to the FEC.

Trump has been using Super PAC money to help pay his mounting legal bills.

Last year, Trump dipped into $48 million from Super PACs to help pay his legal expenses, according to an analysis from the Wall Street Journal last month.

On the heels of Trump’s rump in the South Carolina primary, the former president is projected to have 107 delegates to Republican foe Nikki Haley’s 20.

Trump’s team believes it will lock down the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination by around March 19 or sooner, per Politico.

Ultimately, the party will officially crown its nominee at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 15-18.

The next GOP nominating contest is on Feb. 27 in Michigan.