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Twenty years on, Mr Whatley warned in February 2021 that new opportunities for fraud exist. “Everything is electronic now,” he said.
Less than two years later, Whatley used electronic voting software to win re-election as state party chairman, sparking protests, allegations of fraud, and ultimately a lawsuit against the state party. . The lawsuit was dismissed. But it shows how the distrust in the voting process that Republican elites spread to satisfy President Trump is coming back to bite them, making their party increasingly ungovernable. ing.
The friendly fire in North Carolina is a preview of what lies ahead if Whatley takes over the Republican National Committee from current National Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who plans to step down after this month’s South Carolina primary. . Trump said in a statement Monday that he supported Whatley as chair and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair as he seeks to seize control of the party before the November election. Technically, the committee’s 168 members would have to decide, but Trump’s support all but guarantees their advance.
“Michael has been with me from the beginning and has done a great job in his home state of North Carolina and is committed to election integrity. We must eliminate fraud from elections so they are not stolen. ,” the former president said.
Trump is attracted to Whatley, advisers said, because he has won North Carolina twice and views the state chairman as a loyal steward who has supported him since his first election in 2016. That’s what it means. Mr. Trump expects compliance in both party personnel and legislative proposals. The party covered the costs of an investigation into his business before he announced his 2024 campaign, and those payments could resume under new leadership.
When it comes to interacting with the Trump campaign, a Republican official who knows Whatley well said that he “wouldn’t say no,” giving a frank assessment on condition of anonymity. Sharing duties with Trump’s family would certainly double the pressure.
Mr Whatley currently serves as general counsel for the National Party, along with his state-level role. He didn’t answer any questions. But in an interview last year, he defended McDaniel’s leadership from criticism and described himself as a happy warrior. He said the party needs to raise more money, but she deserves her support. The two had been close for years.
“There’s no magic formula,” he said at the time. “Our whole job is to get people to vote and protect their ballots.”
President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud collide these two objectives. Mr. Whatley has not defended or denied Mr. Trump’s claims as much as party activists have demanded, and instead has allowed his claims to fester. In the process, he was exposed to criticism from all sides.
“Who in their right mind would do something like this,” said a former Republican member of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, assessing Whatley’s chances of rising within President Trump’s Republican Party.
Whatley is a native of Watauga County, located in the hilly region of North Carolina known as the High Country. He first became involved in politics as a sophomore in high school, when he volunteered in the 1984 re-election campaign of then-Sen. Jesse Helms was a Republican who campaigned against abortion, civil and gay rights, and foreign aid.
As part of the Bush campaign’s legal team in 2000, Mr. Whatley learned how to fight politically, he later said. “This was really the first time that Republicans were down in the trenches and fighting,” he said from the stage at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
This experience also familiarized him with the figures who continue to be central to Republican politics. “One of the best things about the 2000 recount was getting a chance to meet this guy,” Whatley said, pointing to embattled CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp. .
After the U.S. Supreme Court concluded the Florida recount and handed the election to Mr. Bush, Mr. Whatley went to work at the Department of Energy and served as chief of staff to then-Sen. Elizabeth Dole (RN.C.).
A former member of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation said, “He lived a life of near nonexistence, with no confrontations at the Capitol.” “No one remembers what he did on the hill.”
He began lobbying by 2005, according to federal filings. He primarily represented energy companies through extensive lobbying and his own company, Patriot Group. He also worked in the corridors of power for other interests, including aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin, according to his lobbying disclosures.
Mr. Whatley returned to North Carolina in 2015, according to property records, just as Mr. Trump was emerging on the political scene. Unlike other Republicans who only reconciled with Trump after he withdrew from the race, Whatley was an early supporter.
“Mr. Trump was already close to Mr. Trump long before he was detained,” said Russell Peck, a longtime Republican operative in the state.
Mr. Whatley served as an informal adviser to the Trump campaign in North Carolina and became close friends with Susie Wiles, who now heads Mr. Trump’s political operations. He has been active in outreach strategies, helping to craft candidates’ appearances in the state and deploying surrogates to pursue Trump’s case in other venues. He also worked on the campaign’s energy platform, according to a Trump adviser.
When Trump won, Whatley played a wide-ranging role in the presidential transition, most notably guiding the confirmation of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to become agriculture secretary.
Back in North Carolina, the state Republican Party quickly became mired in controversy. In early 2019, state election officials ordered a new race in the 9th Congressional District after evidence emerged that a ballot-tampering scheme benefited Republican Mark Harris.
A few weeks later, state party chairman Robert “Robin” Hayes was indicted on federal bribery charges. He ultimately pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal officials (later pardoned by President Trump).
That’s when Mr. Whatley intervened. “We need a reset in Raleigh,” he said in a video announcing his campaign for state party chairman. Despite Whatley being a longtime supporter of Trump, the then-president did not support his bid.
Once in power, Mr. Whatley focused particularly on state legislative and judicial elections, party officials and donors said. Our efforts paid off. Republicans reversed the state Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022 and secured supermajorities in both chambers of Congress by the following year.
“The proof is in the pudding,” said Dallas Woodhouse, former executive director of the state party. “He was successful.”
Importantly, Whatley ingratiated himself with Trump by governing the state on Trump’s behalf, even though Democrats held the governor’s office in 2020. Advisers said Trump was satisfied with the clarity of North Carolina’s results and credited Whatley with stopping the fraud, and Republicans said Trump was satisfied with the clarity of the North Carolina results and credited Whatley with stopping the fraud, while Republicans said he was satisfied with the clarity of the North Carolina results and credited Whatley with stopping the fraud. He claimed that this was the cause of his defeat.
As election fraud continues to plague the Republican Party, Mr. Whatley touts his efforts in North Carolina, devoting three-quarters of the state party’s budget to legal costs and thwarting Democrats’ dastardly actions. He told the CPAC audience that he had assembled an army of 500 lawyers.
According to a person familiar with his interactions with Trump, he has also boasted to Trump in private.
In the weeks after the election, Whatley repeated the president’s baseless claims of fraud elsewhere, even though North Carolina’s results were in no doubt. He told a conservative local talk radio host: We know it happened in places like Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia. ”
When protests encouraged by President Trump turned into deadly riots on January 6, 2021, Whatley condemned the violence.
“The actions of violent protesters who stormed and destroyed the U.S. Capitol, planted bombs, and assaulted Capitol Police officers were completely unjustified and unacceptable,” he said on Facebook. “There is no reason to condone this attack on the foundations of our democracy.”
He made similar remarks on Twitter, but later deleted the post.
Woodhouse, a former state party executive director, said the language reflected the balance Whatley was trying to strike. “I think Mr. Whatley has found a compromise,” he says. “I don’t remember him saying the election was stolen.”
Art Pope, an influential North Carolina donor who supports former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s long-term goal of stealing the nomination from President Trump, said Whatley’s position is misunderstood. Stated.
Pope, who has worked with Whatley since he became state party chairman, said in an interview that Michael Whatley has been called “an election denier,” a “climate denier” and a “Holocaust denier.” I’ve seen it there,” he said. He said, “I have never heard Michael Whatley advocate any further conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.”
For some of the party’s supporters, that restraint itself is a problem. In responses to Whatley’s Facebook posts, which remain on his page, users falsely blamed left-wing activists for the violence at the Capitol and said the election was stolen. insisted. “This election was illegal,” one wrote, questioning his rejection of violence. “In nine days, we’re going to have an illegally and illegitimately elected president living in the White House, but I don’t think there’s ever a time for a president to take office.” Use of violence? ”
Whatley found another way to prove his loyalty to Trump. In February 2021, he led the state party’s rebuke of then-Sen. Richard Burr, who had already announced his decision to retire, voted to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection in the president’s second impeachment trial. was appointed.
In 2022, he allowed President Trump to use the state party’s annual convention in Greensboro to endorse then-Democratic House Representatives. Ted Budd broke longstanding neutrality rules and entered a contentious Senate primary. Mr. Whatley later told others he was surprised that Mr. Trump had endorsed him from the convention stage, according to people who spoke with Mr. Whatley.
This support strengthened Budd’s candidacy and dampened the then-Congressman’s campaign. Mark Walker and former Gov. Pat McCauley are also running for Senate.
“I was advised early on by people I respect to never trust him, and it turns out they were right,” McCrory said of Whatley, adding that for more information was not disclosed.
Mr. Whatley threw his hat in the ring for Republican National Committee co-chairman early last year and won Mr. Trump’s endorsement, but later withdrew. Instead, he was appointed general counsel to the RNC.
He was re-elected as state party chairman at the party’s annual convention in Greensboro in June, but a cloud of doubt hung over the outcome. That’s because voting for the chairman was conducted through electronic software, according to court filings.
Three delegates to the party’s convention filed a lawsuit alleging that the party “conducted voting online and did not use paper ballots, making it impossible to audit.”
A judge dismissed the charges, and the plaintiffs withdrew their appeal earlier this year. But Whatley’s critics say the controversy shows how much he has lost the trust of the party’s most ardent activists, whose litmus test is election integrity.
“The grassroots of North Carolina has completely dissociated itself from the Republican Party and from Michael Whatley’s leadership,” added Michelle Woodhouse, chair of the local Republican Party in the western part of the state.
Robert Orr, a former North Carolina Supreme Court Republican judge who is now out of the party, said Whatley’s evolution illustrates the arc of the Republican Party under Trump. But Mr Orr added that the criticism Mr Whatley has faced from within his own ranks shows how little reward such adaptations can ultimately bring.
“Judging by his political involvement prior to 2016, I would not have expected him to be any kind of MAGA supporter,” Orr said. “But look at the Republican Party. How many people do you think are in elected or party office? How many people do you think are despicable supporters of Donald Trump?”
Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.
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