Lara Trump touts RNC changes and a 2024 presidential victory for Trump in North Carolina
GREENSBORO, N.C. — In a room full of Republicans from across North Carolina, former President Donald Trump railed against the Biden administration on Friday and vowed to win in the state for a third time — via a loudspeaker call after his son Eric Trump called him on stage.
“I just want to thank all the people of North Carolina. The support has been strong and has never wavered,” said Donald Trump, who was met by cheers from hundreds of people in the crowd.
The four-minute phone call kicked off keynote speeches by RNC co-chair Lara Trump and her husband, Eric Trump, at the North Carolina GOP convention in Greensboro. The couple touted significant changes in the national Republican Party under the leadership of Lara Trump and emphasized the need to return Trump to power.
“What’s going on in this country right now is not Republican versus Democrat or left versus right,” Lara Trump, a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, said during the couple’s nearly 40-minute speech. “It’s good versus evil.”
Lara and Eric Trump’s speech comes a year after Trump addressed Republicans in North Carolina as the keynote speaker at the party’s 2023 convention — one of his first public appearances just days after his first criminal indictment alleging secret had mishandled federal documents, was handed over by a large group. jury.
But much has changed at the state and national party since Trump’s visit to the convention in June — including his daughter-in-law’s meteoric rise within the Republican National Committee.
Lara Trump became co-chair of the RNC in March, the party’s top fundraising official, and serves as No. 2 to Michael Whatley, the new RNC chairman and former chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina, who is expected to speak at the NCGOP convention on Saturday. Both Whatley and Lara Trump rose to their leadership positions to revitalize the party and secure Trump’s victory in November.
In the weeks following their emergence, the RNC saw major changes in staffing and an increase in fundraising — the latter desperately needed to fund Trump’s growing legal costs as he faces multiple civil and criminal lawsuits.
While Lara Trump is just beginning her role, Nancy Murray, a Republican representative from Charlotte, said she has high hopes for what Trump’s daughter-in-law will bring to the party leadership.
She also said Lara Trump could be a big improvement over former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who Murray said is a RINO — a derogatory term for conservatives that means Republican in name only.
Under McDaniel, Emily Bourgeois, another delegate from Charlotte, said the party had financial problems and was losing too many races across the country.
“I’m hopeful that Lara Trump can bring this back,” Bourgeois said before the speech.
Lara Trump presented the RNC shifts to the crowd as necessary changes for winning the 2024 election, with an emphasis on turning out Republicans en masse in November. She urged the crowd to vote as early as possible — including through mail-in ballots, which Republicans like Trump previously warned against — and to urge others to cast their ballots to ensure the elections are ‘too big to manipulate’.
“Any way you can vote, and as soon as you can vote, make sure your vote is saved,” Lara Trump said.
The couple voiced significant criticism of the Biden administration, including concerns about immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and inflation. As a way of returning to the country’s “guiding principles,” Eric Trump told the crowd that he and Lara Trump were committed to leading Trump’s campaign to victory by November.
“We’re going to make America great again, and we’re going to do it together, and we’re going to start in North Carolina,” Eric Trump said.
Other prominent conservatives will speak at the Greensboro convention this weekend, including former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson.