Donald Trump is on his way to the Republican nomination.
The former president has won every state of the election season thus far. He’s up by nearly 40 points in South Carolina, the home state of his GOP opponent, Nikki Haley. The spread is even worse in North Carolina, where Trump leads Haley by more than 50 points.
The split between the two GOP candidates represents an ongoing split in the Republican Party, especially when it comes to foreign policy. Gone are the days of the GOP pushing for a large U.S. role on the global stage. Rather, Trump and his allies push for more of an isolationist approach that may result in leaving some NATO allies behind.
Those Trump allies extend to North Carolina, where he is making himself a force in GOP primaries by endorsing his preferred candidates. Meanwhile, Trump is also supporting two North Carolina residents as new chairs of the Republican National Committee: Michael Whatley, current N.C. GOP chair, and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law.
On the next Charlotte Talks, we examine how Trump’s reshaping of the Republican Party is impacting North Carolina, how that is resonating with the state’s Republicans, and whether Trump or Biden has an edge with the state’s independent and unaffiliated voters in November.
GUESTS:
Bryan Anderson, Anderson Alerts Substack newsletter creator and freelance journalist covering North Carolina politics
Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College