Florida’s former GOP chair compares Trump’s Republican National Committee takeover to ‘a funeral’ after daughter-in-law Lara fired more than 90 staff – and claims millions are being spent to ‘perpetuate the fallacy of election fraud’

The former chairman of the Florida Republican Party compared the carnage of layoffs at the Republican National Committee under new Chairman Lara Trump to “a funeral” and is leading the party in the wrong way.

New Trump-oriented leadership at the Republican National Committee is preparing to purge at least 60 staff members across multiple departments within the party, which is now led by former President Trump’s daughter-in-law.

Two people close to the RNC and Trump campaigns said the process of removing dozens of officials began Monday. according to Politico.

Al Cardenas, who leads the Republican Party in the Sunshine State and is the husband of Ana Navarro, the prominent anti-Trump co-host of “The View,” told MSNBC on Friday that this is being done to use national party funds to to fight the former president. Trump’s election grievances.

“They’re moving a small crew to integrate into a presidential campaign by name alone. They are focusing on lawyers and election fraud,” he said.

Cardenas — who represented the party as a delegate at every Republican convention from 1976 to 2008 — believes the resignations are likely closer to 90 people and said he was heartbroken about what is happening to the party.

“This is nonsense, I mean millions are just being spent to perpetuate the misconception that there was election fraud in 2020,” he said.

‘That’s all. That’s all it is, but you know, replacing the RNC and what it does, for me, I’ve given it 40 years of my life. It breaks my heart.’

Cardenas, a senior adviser to Jeb Bush’s failed 2016 campaign, worries about what will happen to the party down the ballot, noting how the RNC should work “on voter registration” and excluding people.

“It takes away an important part of engaging your communities in the political process, and now it’s all dictated from the top, and you’re left wondering what our future will be at the ballot box,” he said.

He referred to the entire process as if he was “at a funeral,” saying, “You know, 1854, the birth of the Republican Party, 2024, the demise of the Republican Party.”

The former president’s takeover of the RNC was cemented last week when his daughter-in-law Lara Trump was elected co-chair and North Carolina loyalist GOP chair Michael Whatley was chosen to replace Ronna McDaniel at the spring convention in Houston, Texas.

Former Chairman McDaniel announced she would end her tenure at the RNC after months of pressure from Trump to step aside after his allies turned against her.

Meanwhile, the new leadership expects to let go of five dozen employees in the political, communications and data departments — including five senior staffers whose names were not shared with Politico.

Supplier contracts could also be reduced, the sources warn.

When rumors of a shakeup at the RNC circulated last year, there were concerns about major staff cuts that would be attributed to tempering “bureaucracy” and helping focus funds on winning elections.

The RNC’s new Chief Operating Officer, Sean Cairncross, sent a letter to the political and data staff claiming that leadership is “in the process of evaluating the organization and staff to ensure the building is in line ‘ with his vision.

“During this process, certain employees will be asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team,” he noted.

The rapid and drastic resignations underline Trump’s rapid takeover of the party. Normally the campaign and the RNC go together once there is a candidate, but the Republican Party won’t hold its official nominating convention until July.

Trump is expected to reach the 1,215 delegate threshold needed to clinch the nomination after Tuesday’s primaries in the states of Georgia, Mississippi and Washington.

The new RNC leadership took operational control of the party on Monday following last week’s spring elections in Texas.

Lara Trump, the wife of Trump’s second son Eric, said Sunday that the Republican Party will focus entirely on prosecuting “election fraudsters” after she was unanimously elected co-chair of the RNC on Friday.

“I can guarantee you that in the next eight months you will see things happening at the Republican National Committee that you have never seen before. Because this is an election you have to win!” Lara told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.

She told Bartiromo, just two days after becoming co-chair, that they are working to create a network of volunteer 2024 poll watchers and lawyers amid 78 lawsuits in 23 states where the RNC is trying to make it easier to vote and “harder to cheat’. ‘

‘We must ensure that people, when they vote, feel that their vote counts, that they are inspired to vote. We can never allow what happened in 2020 and the questions surrounding that election to ever happen again,” she said.

“So I’ll tell you right now what’s already going on at the RNC,” Lara continued. “For the first time ever, we have an ‘Election Integrity Division’ – meaning there are enormous resources dedicated solely to this cause.”

She made it clear that the RNC’s main goal now will be to attack those who think 2020 was legitimate, and to file lawsuits against those they believe are trying to “cheat” or unlawfully interfere with the election from 2024.

“I want to say to anyone who is considering cheating in an election: We will come after you,” the new RNC co-chair warned. ‘You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is not worth it.’

“Everyone in this country, Maria, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, should want free, fair and transparent elections.”