COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – While political observers meditate on the future of the Republican Party after Donald Trump’s presidency, the former president makes it clear that he will continue to play an active role. Trump is endorsing Republican President of South Carolina, Drew McKissick, for a third term, entering not only state policy, but also playing a role in maintaining the local party structure in places that supported his presidency.
“He asked if I had anyone running against me, and I said, ‘No, and I’m trying to keep things that way,'” McKissick told The Associated Press on Monday, describing his call to Trump more than a week ago. “He said, ‘Yes, this is the best way to do this.'”
McKissick, a former Republican activist and consultant, since 2017 has chaired the Republican Party in South Carolina, where Republicans control both legislative chambers, all state offices and everyone except one chair in Congress. Home to the first presidential primaries in the South, South Carolina plays a crucial role in the nomination process, hosting a number of candidates seeking the top places in their party.
Trump’s ties to South Carolina are deep. In 2016, the then Lieutenant. Governor Henry McMaster was the first elected official across the state to support Trump, whose victory in the primaries here helped to consolidate his status as a leader. Trump then paved the way for McMaster’s promotion by nominating then-Gov. Nikki Haley UN Ambassador.
Despite feuds in 2016, Trump and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham developed a close relationship, especially because of Graham’s defense of Trump’s court nominees. Graham’s fickle positions on Trump are sometimes at odds, but a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago seems to indicate that the alliance remains.
As president, McKissick remained a constant supporter of Trump, successfully canceling the 2020 Republican primaries in favor of supporting the incumbent, with McKissick saying that Trump faced “no legitimate challengers in the primaries” and had a “record of results. “to the state.
Now, as some in the GOP widely reflect on a post-Trump era reckoning, state parties across the country under the leadership of presidents like McKissick have shown their loyalty, keeping Trump at the center of the local GOP brand.
After Congressman Tom Rice was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment over what Rice saw as his failure to calm Capitol unrest, McKissick said that night he was “severely disappointed” by Rice’s vote. When the state Republican Party quickly censored Rice two weeks later, McKissick said the move was for state party leaders to inform Rice that “they totally disagree with his decision.”
Many, including Rice himself, expect the five-term congressman to face several primary opponents next year.
Now, as a measure of public support, Trump is rewarding McKissick by supporting the renewal of his presidency. It is similar to an action Trump took in Arizona, where controversial Republican President Kelli Ward – among Trump’s most adamant supporters and prolific promoters of his baseless allegations of widespread electoral fraud – was re-elected after a public endorsement by Trump.
At the same meeting, Arizona Republicans voted to censor Cindy McCain and two other prominent members of the Republican Party who met in the same line as Trump.
McKissick says the ex-president’s brand in the Republican Party remains “tremendous” and that he expects Trump to play an important role in the next 2022 midterm elections.
“He definitely has a tremendous leadership position in our party, just because of how the people who joined our party under his leadership, joined our party,” McKissick told the AP, citing what he saw as keeping promises. Trump’s campaign efforts on immigration reform, conservative court appointments and abortion restrictions.
“I don’t see these problems going away. I don’t see these people leaving, “said McKissick.” That’s what people could see in our party, with President Trump. “
The state GOP will officially vote for its president at a convention planned for May.
As for 2022, McKissick – also serving on the near-formed electoral integrity committee of the Republican National Committee – said he expects Trump to hold “MAGA rallies across the country” primary and general elections, noting the more than $ 250 million raised by the former President in the weeks following his defeat in the elections.
“It buys a lot of jet fuel,” said McKissick.
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Meg Kinnard can be contacted at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.