The Republican Governors Association (RGA) has come under fire after declining to formally endorse former President Donald Trump as the Republican Party’s next presidential nominee, with Democrats suggesting the lack of a full endorsement shows the GOP is in a state of disorganization.
The current chair of the RGA, Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tenn.), said he will support the eventual GOP nominee for president, although he avoided specifically mentioning former President Trump by name.
“For me, as the chairman of the Republican governors, I’ve said from the beginning, and I think it’s important: I have an obligation to not engage in the primary,” Mr. Lee said. “We have a lot of members. We have a lot of interests, folks from all across the state and our focus really is not on the presidential race.”
Gov. Lee made the comments during Politico’s Governors Summit when asked whether he would support former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) or former President Trump in the race for the White House.
The chairmen of the Republican Party’s House and Senate campaign committees, meanwhile, have already endorsed former President Trump.
Past Feuds Between Trump and the RGA
The DGA reports that in 2022, then-RGA chair and governor of Arizona Doug Ducey was in a nasty feud with President Trump, which cost the RGA over $13 million in Trump-fueled GOP primaries.
“The RGA has once again snubbed Donald Trump and continued the nasty public feud between the two for the third year in a row,” Mr. Newton said. “There seems to be no end in sight to this nasty public battle that will only create more fundraising and recruitment issues for the RGA.”
In response to Mr. Newton’s remarks, the RGA has said it purposefully stays out of Republican presidential primaries, and that their lack of endorsement of Mr. Trump should not be viewed as a snub.
“RGA’s mission is to continue electing more Republican governors. While several of our governors have individually endorsed [Trump], as an organization we do not get involved in any election that’s not a governor race,” Courtney Alexander, national press secretary for the RGA, told The Epoch Times.
Tensions Between Trump and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
There has been talk that President Trump will plan to avoid working with the RGA during the 2024 election cycle because the group’s executive director has been an adviser to Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa), who endorsed Gov. Ron Desantis (R-Fla.) ahead of the Iowa caucuses, as reported by The New York Times.She has stayed silent over the reports of feuds. Ms. Reynolds is also the former leader of the RGA.
The Epoch Times reached out to Ms. Reynolds for responses.
Mr. Trump has taken credit for Ms. Reynolds becoming governor, saying she would’ve lost without his support.
“I got her elected. I endorsed her, I came and did a rally when she was very far behind,” Mr. Trump said. “I actually did a couple of rallies for her, and she ended up winning the election instead of losing the election.”
So far, the former president has endorsements from at least seven Republican governors, including Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, where in the GOP primary Mr. Trump recently won.
Others on the list are governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.), Greg Abbott (R-Texas), Mike Dunleavy (R-Ala.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Tate Reeves (R-Miss.).
