EXCLUSIVE — Republican National Committee Co-chairwoman Lara Trump is adamant her family remains behind former President Donald Trump as she and husband Eric step up, becoming more prominent in national politics, while sister-in-law Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner , take a step back.
"We're all one big team," Lara Trump told the Washington Examiner from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. "Just because Ivanka and Jared are not fully out front right now does not reflect in any way any less support. We are all 100% behind him."
"They're going to be at the convention later this week," she said of her sister- and brother-in-law. "You will see them here. It's just everybody, I think, has different seasons in life. I know that Jared and Ivanka are really proud of their time working in the White House . I think they made some amazing things happen during my father-in-law's administration. But it was tough. It was really tough on them. It was really tough on their family. I don't blame them at all for taking a bit of a backseat role at this point. I guess it's my turn to step up and do some things."
Lara Trump, herself a mother of two young children, was elected co-chairwoman of the RNC in March, alongside former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley. A onetime television producer, Lara Trump has consistently expressed her support for the former president but, unlike Ivanka and Kushner, did so from a political, not official, capacity. Meanwhile, Eric Trump, her husband of 10 years, has focused on the old family business, the Trump Organization . Eric Trump, like his wife, has become a mainstay on television this week during the convention, appearing on more liberal-leaning outlets compared to his brother Donald Trump Jr.
But with the new family business being politics, the former president's adult children have become more concerned with securing their father's legacy, regardless of whether he secures a second term in November.
Lara Trump described the former president as upending politics and the Republican Party since he announced his 2016 campaign, contending "he's welcomed so many people into our tent," particularly people who "maybe never saw themselves as Republicans." By picking Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice presidential nominee, for example, her father-in-law tapped somebody who "shares his same vision for this country," she said.
"They have a lot of similarities," the amateur recording artist said. "But I think that J.D. is a good balance for him in a lot of ways. ... He started out very poor, obviously had substance abuse issues in his family. He can relate to a lot of the things that people in this country are struggling with right now. I think he brings that to this ticket as well."
"He wanted somebody who could carry on, maybe it's a legacy, but I really think it's just his vision for the future of this country, putting America first," she added. "J.D. certainly is going to be the best person for that."
Trump Jr. advocated publicly and privately for the former president to choose Vance as his running mate instead of a compromise selection, such as Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), as he and other advisers help position Donald Trump for the 2024 bid and post-presidency. Appeals to more establishment Republicans have been muted during the convention, with ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley receiving a mixed reception.
Both Lara Trump and Trump Jr. have been rumored to be considering their own political careers, with Wyoming Republicans encouraging Trump Jr. to contest their state's Senate seat in 2020 before the Pennsylvania GOP did the same for their commonwealth's Senate seat in 2022. North Carolina Republicans made similar overtures to Lara Trump for their Senate seat that cycle too.
Most recently, Barron Trump , his father's youngest and only child with third wife, former first lady Melania Trump , has become politically active, the crowd welcoming him to his first rally last week in Florida with a standing ovation.
"Man, they make it all so nice for us in politics. Why wouldn't we want to get more involved?" Lara Trump joked. "My father-in-law, I think, knew whenever he decided to come down that escalator in 2015 and announce he was running for president, this was so much bigger than him. He sat down actually with all of us as a family, and he said, 'Listen, I'm going to do this, but it's not just going to be about me. It's going to be about all of us.'"
"I don't think any of us in those moments actually knew what that would look like," she said. "For those of us in our family, it was really about getting out and pushing back on some of the character attacks on him. And here we are today. It's been sort of a natural, you know, ascent for so many of us in the family. I think that we are so proud to be by his side in this fight."
Donald Trump closed the second night of the Republican convention on Tuesday by providing delegates on the floor and potential GOP voters watching at home with personal testimony about the former president, a previous responsibility of Ivanka Trump.
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"When I look at Donald Trump, I see a wonderful father, father-in-law, and, of course, grandfather to my two young children, Luke and Carolina," Lara Trump said. "It's through that lens that we sometimes wish more people could see this is a man who has sacrificed for his family and a man who has truly sacrificed for his country."
"I have seen this man dragged through hell and back," she continued, adding, "Yet he has never backed down" to chants of "We love Trump." "So tonight, to my father-in-law, I want to say thank you for your resilience, thank you for continuing on, thank you for raising wonderful kids, thank you for being an amazing grandfather, thank you for never giving up on me, and thank you for never giving up on our country."
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