The RNC Has a New Interview Question: Was the 2020 Election Stolen? - The New York Times
By: Michael C. Bender (nytimes)
Former President Donald J. Trump's full takeover of the Republican National Committee continued this week with interviews for key positions that have included a jarring question: Was the 2020 presidential election stolen?
That question has been asked in interviews aimed at replacing some of the more than 60 R.N.C. officials who were laid off this month, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Most of the applicants who were posed the question responded with some version of an answer saying that there had been irregularities in the 2020 presidential contest and that changes to rules and laws that year because of the coronavirus pandemic had created cause for concern, the people familiar with the matter said. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in that year's election, but Mr. Trump and some of his allies have continued to cast doubt on its legitimacy.
The Washington Post first reported that the R.N.C. interviews included a question about the validity of the 2020 election.
It was unclear how the answers from applicants would affect party officials' hiring decisions.
Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for the R.N.C., suggested in a statement that the question was part of the party's due diligence in reviewing potential hires.
"Candidates who worked on the front line in battleground states or are currently in states where fraud allegations have been prevalent were asked about their work experience," she said. "We want experienced staff with meaningful views on how elections are won and lost and real experience-based opinions about what happens in the trenches."
This month, the R.N.C. elected new leaders who were handpicked by Mr. Trump, including his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
For the past several years, R.N.C. lawyers have instructed party officials to avoid claiming that widespread fraud altered the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, or that the contest was stolen. Instead, the lawyers have urged officials to say that some states had eliminated voting safeguards and to underscore a need for poll watchers.
Those warnings about careful language came as multiple Trump advisers faced criminal charges for their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Top R.N.C. officials were also worried about making false election claims given that the party had only recently been released from a decades-long ban on mounting campaigns against purported voter fraud without court approval. That ban, which was lifted by a 2018 federal court ruling, was first imposed in 1982 after courts found instances of Republicans intimidating or trying to exclude voters of color.
President Biden's campaign immediately jumped on reports about the R.N.C. interview question.
"Donald Trump is demanding fealty to his extreme, antidemocratic beliefs to be part of his Republican Party," Ammar Moussa, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. "Americans don't want his lies, attacks on democracy, calls for violence or dangerous agenda."
Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections.More about Michael C. Bender
What was that about Ronna McDaniel ?
What was that about NBC's contributor's standard again?
did she start a race riot that ended up with a murdered Jew? Or champion madeup allegations that cops raped a young girl? Or did she lie about Hunter Biden's laptop being Russian disinformation, knowing the campaign she worked for started that lie?
Lying isn't the problem at NBC. It's who you lie for that matters.
It appears belief that the election was stolen is a mandate of the Republican Party.
Ronna McDaniel hasn't changed her mind ,she just sort of went along when Kristen Welker persisted with the question. If she got her old job back she'd be spewing that stolen election garbage again within 5 minutes.
Thing is, in today's world, I would not be surprised if this is true.
I guess neither of us could get a job with them
Ha. He is building the party for himself in plain site and all that the Republicans can do is defend the blatant abuse of real and perceived power and the dissolution of norms throughout their party.
When Trump loses in November, he is going to go on another tour: "The Big Lie: They did it again."
All of the morons across the country will be lining up to fight for their lord and savior, knowing that he will pardon them if only he wins.
All of the Trump supporters will go along because they won't be able to admit that they were wrong. When the smoke clears, I hope that they are all prosecuted to the fullest extent possible, up to and especially Trump. There exists no place in a democratic America for a lying scumbag such as Trump. Indeed, he is antithetical to democracy.
If Trump loses in November, he is going to be dealing with a trial circuit ("like has never been seen before").
Just to make certain the new RNC staff members are on the same IQ level as their candidate, they are also asking the applicants: Is the Earth flat and does 2+2=5? Affirmative answers to both of those questions is required for employment.