Establishment Republicans Claim Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi Has “Weaponized” Party
Jose Nino
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Since former State Representative Jonathan Stickland met up with America First nationalist Nick Fuentes, Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi has been placed under significant scrutiny for his relationship with the then-president of Defend Texas Liberty PAC. This PAC has strong ties to the Texas GOP.
This relationship has been controversial to say the least, with nearly half of the party’s executive board — made up of 64 members — signing on to a letter pushing for the party to slash ties with Stickland and the PAC.
The GOP establishment is particularly angered by Rinaldi’s focus on primarying Republicans who he and other grassroots conservatives who they deem as weak-kneed and unprincipled. Rinaldi got very vocal when the Texas House voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on alleged corruption charges.
“We are no longer a political institution,” declared Morgan Graham, a member of the Texas Republican Party’s executive committee who represents the Rio Grande Valley. “We are, if anything, something that has been subjected to a hostile takeover and weaponized.”
Many grassroots Republicans believe that Rinaldi, who served in the Texas House from 2014 to 2018, is putting the party on the right path in terms of ideology and policy priorities. During his brief time in office, Rinaldi established himself as a staunch conservative champion for policies such as Constitutional Carry and school choice.
By contrast, Rinaldi’s opponents such as House Speaker Dade Phelan argued that Rinaldi is pitting Republicans against each other and creating unnecessary divisions within the party.
“Speaker Dade Phelan ignited a civil war in the Republican Party when he appointed Democrats to top House leadership positions and then joined with them to stage a sham impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Rinaldi declared. “The Republican Party has, as it should, taken the side of the Republicans in this dispute by defending its statewide officeholders against political persecution by Democrats.”
Indeed, such struggles within the GOP can be found in practically all state legislatures as establishment conservatives have to fend off ascendant America First and liberty conservative problems. This is the intra-partisan battle of our epoch. And if we don’t win it, the GOP will become politically irrelevant, thereby leading to the death of the Historic American Nation.
We can’t let these people continue running the GOP at this crucial moment in American history.
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