The Republican Party intends to keep using former President Donald Trumpâs name in fundraising pitches and other materials, a lawyer for the party said on Monday, despite a cease-and-desist letter from Trump last week.
The letter sent by lawyers for Trump on Friday to the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Campaign and National Republican Senate Campaign had ramped up tension between the two camps as Trump seeks to preserve his political viability post-election.
A Trump adviser said on Saturday that Trump was sensitive to the use of his name and likeness for branding purposes and was irked the three groups have supported Republican lawmakers who joined Democrats in voting to impeach him over the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
In a response letter, the Republican National Committee said that Trump âreaffirmedâ to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel over the weekend that he approves of the partyâs current use of his name, wrote Justin Riemer, the RNCâs top lawyer.
The party also argued it had âevery right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech.â
The letter indicated Trump would participate in the partyâs donor retreat scheduled for next month in Palm Beach, Florida, which is home to Trumpâs Mar-a-Lago resort.
A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
But in a statement late on Monday, Trump declared: âNo more money for RINOS,â the acronym for the pejorative term âRepublicans in Name Only.â
âThey do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base â they will never lead us to Greatness,â Trump said before urging supporters to donate to his own super PAC.
In an effort separate from the Republican Party, Trump is using his Save America super PAC to raise money in part to help handpicked Republican candidates in the 2022 congressional elections. Some of them are expected to challenge Republican incumbents whom Trump considers disloyal.
Still, Trump has committed to helping Republicans try to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2022 elections that will be an early referendum on the leadership of Democratic President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney)
