Former President Donald J. Trump's complete control of the Republican National Committee continued this week with interviews with key positions that included the strident question: Was the 2020 presidential election stolen?
The question was asked during an interview aimed at replacing some of the more than 60 RNC executives who were fired this month, two people familiar with the matter said.
Most of the applicants questioned gave some sort of response that there was fraud in the 2020 presidential election and that changes to rules and laws that year due to the coronavirus pandemic were cause for concern, officials said. did. Regarding that matter. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in that year's election, but Mr. Trump and some of his allies continue to question its legitimacy.
The Washington Post first reported that the RNC interview included questions about the validity of the 2020 election.
It is unclear how applicants' answers will affect party officials' hiring decisions. An RNC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
This month, the RNC elected new leaders hand-picked by Trump, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
RNC lawyers have in recent years instructed party officials to avoid claiming that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election or that the race was stolen. Instead, lawyers urged officials to emphasize the need for poll watchers, saying some states have eliminated voting security measures.
These warnings about careful language come as multiple Trump advisers face criminal charges for their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.
RNC leaders also accused the party of falsehoods in the election, given that the party had just been freed from a decades-long ban on intensifying campaigns of alleged voter fraud without court approval. I was concerned about making a claim. The ban, which was lifted by a federal court ruling in 2018, was first imposed in 1982 after courts found that Republicans had tried to intimidate or exclude voters of color. It was done.
President Biden's campaign immediately pounced on reports about the RNC interview questions.
“Donald Trump requires loyalty to extreme anti-democratic beliefs to be a member of the Republican Party,” campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “Americans don't want his lies, his attacks on democracy, his calls for violence and dangerous policies.”