RNC swears it will stay independent if Trump runs in 2024 — but they're still paying his legal fees

Former President Donald Trump won't say whether or not he'll run for president in 2024 because he said it would trigger campaign finance rules that would require he stop raising money into his super PAC. But the Republican Party has made it clear that they'll remain independent if he does announce.

BuzzFeed reported Thursday that the far-right party swears, “We will remain neutral." That may not the case for the state, county and other Republican Party officials, however.

"I mean, we do see him as an incumbent,” BuzzFeed quoted GOP Indian River County, Florida Chair Jay Kramer. The county is known for being among the wealthiest in the nation. “I mean, you know, Trump, for the most part when it comes to fundraising, I mean, we can't say no to the guy."

Many Senate Republicans, "with few exceptions" are hoping that Trump stays out of 2024, said one report.

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CPAC held its straw poll showing that support for Trump has inched up over the past year with 59 percent of support after he got just 55 percent in 2021.

“I've already made the public statement: The Iowa Republican Party is neutral,” BuzzFeed quoted Iowa State Chair Jeff Kaufmann. “Now does that mean I'm not going to stand up for the former president and his policies? Absolutely, I will. I will, you know, speak and introduce him and say wonderful things at a Trump rally, but at the same time, I spent an entire day with Tom Cotton going up and down the Mississippi River.”

Others too are advocating for "fairness," but what isn't fair is that the Republican Party will continue to pay for Donald Trump's legal fees. From the time the GOP met Trump in 2015, to Sept. 2020, the party's donors have been on the hook for over $60 million in legal fees for Trump and his allies. A Dec. 2021 report showed Republican donors paid $1.6 million for Trump's legal fees. It's unclear if the GOP is paying for the lawyers of Trump's children, however. Some reports have said that the RNC really wants to stop paying his bills.

"Ronna McDaniel and the Republican National Committee are using their donors' money to finance Trump's personal legal defense while he sits on hundreds of millions of his own money as well as campaign funds," Democratic Party spokesperson Adonna Biel said in a statement to CNN. "This is today's GOP — a party that will do anything for a divisive and incompetent ex-president who cost their party the House, Senate, and White House and thousands of Americans their lives and livelihoods. If we were the RNC's donors, we would certainly be asking questions."

So, while the GOP says that they intend to be impartial, other presidential candidates will be on the hook for their own legal work.

Read the GOP interviews at BuzzFeed.

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