Conservative political activist Scott Presler was trending on X when it was announced this week that Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairperson Ronna McDaniels was resigning from her position. Presler supporters immediately began pushing his name as McDaniels’ replacement.
[Note: GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has been a ferocious critic of the RNC under McDaniels, and skipped the RNC-run primary debates to show his disdain. As her replacement, “Donald Trump is likely to back a supporter of his false claims of election fraud, Michael Whatley, the head of the North Carolina G.O.P.” according to The New York Times.]
But many believe Presler, an iconoclastic choice, is still in the running. A former regional field director for the Republican Party of Virginia and co-founder of the LGBTQ coalition Gays for Trump, Presler is currently on the ground registering people to vote.
This week, from the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Prelser reported: “In the last 4 days, we’ve registered 152 voters.” Two of those 152 newly registered voters are from the Amish community. Presler reports: “We are actively pursuing the Amish vote.”
Just registered 2 members of the Amish community to vote.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 5, 2024
There are 80,000 Amish in Pennsylvania.
We are actively pursuing the Amish vote, which could literally save the country (& globe).
CC: Great American Outdoor Show, Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/BLVNAhMeHh
Presler added: “We’ve spoken to dozens of members of the Amish community today. For each person we’re saying, ‘We hope you’ll consider voting this November. The Amish can literally save the country.’ Many of the older Amish at the Great American Outdoor Show already vote & young Amish seem very receptive to voting. I spoke to them about how every aspect of Amish life is under attack & one way they can protect their values is by voting. We are making an impact.”
Day 3 of registering voters at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 6, 2024
If every gun owner in America voted, we could transform the country for the better.
+30 in Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/R5gNPd77Aw
It’s not the first time Trump’s allies have targeted the Amish population, an important bloc in the tightly contested swing state of Pennsylvania. Since Amish traditionally don’t watch TV or use social media (or any technology), in 2016 the Amish PAC used lawn signs, billboards and print newspaper ads to encourage the Amish to vote for Trump — a candidate whose persona is hard to square with the cherished Amish values of “humility and simplicity and putting God and community ahead of the individual.”
In the 2016, 1,019 Amish community members voted in Lancaster County, which Trump won in both 2016 and 2020. Biden won Pennsylvania overall in 2020.
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