As previously reported, former President Trump has no current plan to break from the Republican Party and form a new party to battle his political foes moving forward. However, there does appear to be a rift between Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) with regard to fundraising, and the right to use the former President’s name and likeness in donor solicitations.
Rather than start a third-party, it appears Trump will be working to mop up donations potentially starving the RNC, and other conservative organizations, from the money they would otherwise raise for midterm battles in the House and Senate. By extension, Trump is trying to avoid allowing the RNC to raise money off his back and potentially spend it on Republican candidates who have opposed him or voted in favor of his impeachment conviction.
As CBS News now reports, the lawyers are involved, and the RNC claims that as a public figure, Trump lacks standing to prevent them from using his name and face:
The Republican National Committee has responded to a cease-and-desist letter from former President Trump that demanded that the RNC and other GOP campaign committees stop using his name and likeness in their fundraising materials.
The RNC told the ex-president’s lawyer that it “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech.” The RNC’s response was first reported by Politico.
It’s likely the RNC still has the right to use Trump’s name in their fundraising efforts but reports that the former President disapproves of the practice may well be enough to turn some donors away. Instead, Trump is attempting to siphon funds over to his own political action committee, an organization that could end up raising massive sums of money to use in support or opposition of Republican candidates during heated primaries.
In response to the RNC’s claim, Trump issued a demand that funds raised in his name should not be spent on “RINO” candidates:
Trump responded to the letter with a statement that put that agreement in doubt. “No more money for RINOS,” or Republican in name only, he stated. “They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base — they will never lead us to Greatness.” He instead again urged his supporters to send their contributions directly to his own Save America PAC by using his personal website, adding, “We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!”
This dynamic will play out over the coming year and it will be interesting to see which entity winds up on top. Trump’s PAC or the RNC. Clearly, the latter has a wider base of donors, but the former President has been a prolific fundraiser for Republicans.
