MAGA Devours the GOP

With the election of Lara Trump and Michael Whatley to the Republican National Committee, the MAGA movement now has significant control of the Republican Party, according to multiple commentators.

The former president's daughter-in-law was elected co-chair of the RNC on Friday alongside long-time Donald Trump supporter Whatley.

The changes came after Ronna McDaniel, who was backed by Trump to lead the RNC in 2017, resigned after being blamed for a series of funding issues. She was also criticized for the Republicans losing multiple elections since 2020.

Since then, according to Politico, which cited two unnamed people close to the Trump campaign and the RNC, more than 60 RNC staffers who work across the political, communications and data departments are being asked to resign.

The website reported that in a letter to some political and data team staff, Sean Cairncross, the RNC's new chief operating officer, said that the incoming leadership was "in the process of evaluating the organization and staff to ensure the building is aligned" with its vision. "During this process, certain staff are being asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team," the communication read, per Politico.

Meanwhile, according to one source quoted by The New York Times, the party only had about 200 people on the payroll at the end of last month.

Newsweek was not able to verify this independently and contacted an RNC representative by email to comment on this story.

Speaking to Newsmax on Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. celebrated MAGA's strength within the GOP.

He said: "I think the RNC is going to be a bit more of that old-school establishment, that Republican Party frankly no longer exists outside of the D.C. beltway, but it takes a little while to make that transition.

"But again, I think the moves that happened today, I think that's the final blow, people have to understand that America first. The MAGA movement is the new Republican Party, that is conservatism today."

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, political commentator Richard Hanania said the changes to the RNC showed the "MAGA night of the long knives."

Turning Point founder and political commentator Charlie Kirk called reports of the layoffs a "bloodbath" in a post on X.

"This is excellent," Kirk added. "The anti-Trump sleeper cells all have to go. The RNC is getting ready to win."

Former Trump aide Olivia Troye urged Republicans on Saturday to "stop donating" to the RNC, alleging that it was becoming a "Trump legal defense fund."

Adam Kinzinger, a former GOP Illinois representative and a vocal critic of Trump, said changes to the Republican governing body showed it was becoming "Trump's toilet."

"The RNC, in deciding to become Trumps toilet and slush fund, is going to do real damage to down ballot races," he wrote on X. "They deserve it for capitulating... how far they have fallen."