Lara Trump's New Warning Sparks Immediate Backlash

Lara Trump sparked backlash on social media on Sunday after she warned that anyone thinking about "cheating in an election" will be prosecuted.

Lara Trump, who is married to Donald Trump's second son Eric Trump, was elected on Friday to her position as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in Houston, Texas, following the resignation of Ronna McDaniel as chairwoman of the RNC. Michael Whatley, a long-time Trump supporter who has previously backed false claims that Trump rightfully won the 2020 presidential election, was also elected Friday as the new RNC chair.

In an interview with Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with host Maria Bartiromo, Lara Trump discussed the priorities the RNC will be taking on including "protecting the vote," adding that the RNC has an election integrity division underway.

"We have to ensure that when people go vote, they feel like their vote counts...We can never allow what happened in 2020 and the questions surrounding that election to ever happen again," she said.

Lara Trump also warned those thinking about "cheating in an election" will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

"To anyone out there who's thinking about cheating in an election, we will go after you. You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...Every person in this country should want free, fair, and transparent elections," she said.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email and the RNC via email online form for comment.

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will challenge restrictions to the ballot including mail-in voting.

"That is why the Justice Department is fighting back," Garland said. "That is why one of the first things I did when I came into office was to double the size of the voting section of the civil rights division. That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements."

The methods of expanding voting access listed by Garland have often come under scrutiny from Republican-led governments. Their subsequent efforts to curtail them have been criticized as efforts to minimize the ability of predominantly marginalized communities to vote.

They have also more recently come under fire from Trump, who made false claims that such methods were used by his opponents to conduct widespread voter fraud, which he falsely blames for his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and what sparked the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. These ideas, though widely debunked by Democrats and independent experts, have been adopted by followers of his "Make American Great Again" (MAGA) movement.

The former president was indicted on four counts by the DOJ in August 2023 in relation to his alleged role in the riot, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pled not guilty and has said that the case against him is politically motivated as he remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Meanwhile, Lara Trump faced backlash when social media users took to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday to criticize her.

Attorney Bradley P. Moss posted to X, "We're looking at you, MAGA folks in The Villages."

X account Republican Accountability also noted Lara Trump's comments and asked," Does this include Donald Trump?"

User Blue Georgia posted, "When Republicans talk about election fraud, show them this."

Progressive political commentator Luke Beasley wrote on X, "Lara Trump endorses Donald Trump being prosecuted for his crimes."

However, X user pasbless seemed to agree with Lara Trump and wrote, "Lara, We need a ground game plan if President Trump is going to win! We are good at signing up for votes votes, we need to become better at making sure every vote counts!"