This week, we’re highlighting some of the crooks, cranks, and convicts that make up Donald Trump’s MAGA GOP. As Trump-installed RNC chair Michael Whatley makes election denial a litmus test in the Republican Party, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump hand picked Michael Whatley to take over the RNC because he parroted Trump’s baseless lies about the 2020 election, and Whatley is returning the favor by making election denialism a key litmus test to join the GOP. Putting an election denying extremist like Whatley in charge of the RNC makes it clear that the future of our democracy is on the ballot in this election – and the American people will once again reject Trump and his MAGA allies this November.”

Let’s be clear: Michael Whatley was backed by Donald Trump to take over the RNC because of his history of election denial. 

CNN: “RNC staffers and new hires asked whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen”

Washington Post: “Those seeking employment at the Republican National Committee after a Donald Trump-backed purge of the committee this month have been asked in job interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen, according to people familiar with the interviews, making the false claim a litmus test of sorts for hiring.”

New York Times: “Trump’s Man at the R.N.C. Will Face Pressure to Satisfy His Election Lies”

New York Magazine: “Trump Taps Election Deniers Lara Trump, Michael Whatley to Lead RNC”

Associated Press: “In pushing Michael Whatley as the next leader of the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump zeroed in on the North Carolina GOP chairman’s dedication to ‘election integrity,’ baselessly suggesting he would ensure the 2024 race ‘can’t be stolen.’”

Whatley is a dangerous election denier who parroted Trump’s baseless lies about the 2020 election.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump likes Mr. Whatley for one overwhelming reason, according to people who have discussed him with the former president: He is ‘a stop the steal guy,’ as one of the people described him. He endorses Mr. Trump’s false claims about mass voter fraud … Mr. Whatley has baselessly claimed that election security efforts from Republicans in North Carolina stopped Democrats from cheating.”

CNN: “Likely frontrunner for RNC chair parroted Trump’s 2020 election lies”

“Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, shared false claims that Republican observers were prevented from accessing polling locations and repeatedly said Democratic cities in swing states were engaged in ‘massive fraud.’”

“His elevation to RNC chair could give Trump a loyalist more willing to devote resources to pursue future voter fraud claims in court should they arise.”

“‘Regardless of how these lawsuits come out around the country with the presidential race we do know that there was massive fraud that took place,’ Whatley said in one late November 2020 interview on local North Carolina radio. ‘We know that it took place in places like Milwaukee and Detroit and Philadelphia.’”

Raleigh News & Observer: “Whatley has frequently repeated Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.”

Vice: “North Carolina Republican chair Michael Whatley falsely claimed in February that ‘we certainly saw evidence of voting irregularities, of election counting irregularities in a number of places around the country,’ and invented the claim that the reason Trump won North Carolina was his state party’s vigilance against Democrats’ attempts to cheat.”

Whatley has failed to condemn a state House GOP candidate with ties to a neo-Nazi organization.

Raleigh News & Observer: “NC GOP chair stays quiet about candidate’s Nazi ties after failed effort at removal from ballot”

“This year, however, the state GOP, led by Chair Michael Whatley, has remained silent on a candidate with ties to a neo-Nazi organization.

“Joseph Gibson III, a Rockingham County podcaster with past felony convictions, is running for a state House seat. … After Gibson was approved to be on the ballot, Whatley — who is now running to be chair of the Republican National Committee with former President Donald Trump’s support — did not publicly condemn his candidacy.” 

“The Anti-Defamation League found that Gibson had ties to the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement and referred to him as a ‘white supremacist and anti-government extremist.’

“The ADL’s report said Gibson participated in livestream events hosted by the NSM and in one instance messaged the channel saying ‘88,’ a dog whistle used by white supremacists to mean ‘Heil Hitler.’”

Trump’s inner circle is filled with election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and convicted felons. 

Axios: “Trump eyes convicts and conspiracists for 2024 reunion”

“Sidelined characters from former President Trump’s past campaigns — ‘crazies,’ some of his top advisers call them — are reattaching themselves to his inner circle now that he’s locked up the Republican nomination. … ex-advisers, conspiracy theorists and convicted felons are now knocking on the campaign’s door — and some are getting in.”

New York Times: “Paul Manafort, a top adviser to Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign who was pardoned by the former president at the end of his White House term, is in discussions to return to help with the Republican National Convention.”

“Mr. Manafort was found guilty in late August 2018 of a range of financial crimes, including tax and bank fraud.

“In September 2018, Mr. Manafort pleaded guilty to additional charges brought by Mr. Mueller and agreed to cooperate. But as the case proceeded, Mr. Mueller said that Mr. Manafort had not been truthful in his cooperation, breaching that plea deal.”

Washington Post: “Former president Donald Trump is preparing to bring back into his campaign fold a man convicted of multiple crimes and whom a bipartisan Senate report labeled a ‘grave counterintelligence threat’ because of his ties to a Russian spy.”

The Guardian: “Headache for campaign team as Trump gets the band back together”

New York Times: “Former President Donald J. Trump recently told aides to hire Laura Loomer, a far-right and anti-Muslim activist with a history of expressing bigoted views, for a campaign role, according to four people familiar with the plans. Mr. Trump met with Ms. Loomer recently and directed advisers to give her a role in support of his candidacy.”

Rolling Stone: “They Helped Trump Plan a Coup. He Wants Them Back for a Second Term”

The Hill: “Trump says he’ll bring back Michael Flynn if he wins in 2024: ‘He’s some man’” 

CNN: “Trump hosted Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago estate during visit with Kanye West, a week after announcing 2024 run”