Lara Trump says 'every single penny' from the RNC should support Donald Trump as GOP primary continues

WASHINGTON - Lara Trump, the newly nominated co-chair of the Republican National Committee, says former President Donald Trump's revamp of the GOP organization has at least one major goal: Spending more money on him.

"Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC," Lara Trump told Newsmax, namely the election of Donald Trump to another term in the White House.

The former president nominated his daughter-in-law to an RNC leadership post earlier this week. Trump also tapped Michael Whatley, the chairman of the state GOP in North Carolina, to be national chair.

However, the current RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, has yet to announce her retirement. She is expected to do so after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24.

The RNC is supposed to stay neutral during presidential primaries, but Lara Trump's comments added to existing questions about whether that's the case in the 2024 race for the White House.

"The RNC needs to be the leanest, most lethal political fighting machine we've ever seen in American history," she declared, outlining her vision for the committee's future.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is still running against Trump for the GOP nomination, already criticized the RNC for being biased toward Trump earlier in her campaign. And she amped up that criticism this week as Trump is installing new leadership.

Trump is going to "try and continue to take the party so that it does what he wants it to do," Haley told supporters Tuesday in South Carolina.

Trump, who notched sweeping caucus and primary victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, holds major leads in polls of Republican voters in South Carolina, her home state. In some surveys, the former president is leading his former United Nations ambassador by more than thirty percentage points.

But Trump has long been critical of the RNC over its fundraising capabilities and management of donations. Trump allies have also accused McDaniel in recent weeks of being insufficiently supportive of the ex-president as he pursues the GOP presidential nomination again in 2024.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lara Trump says 'every single penny' from RNC should back Donald Trump