Solomon Yue Jr. (Chinese: 俞怀松, born May 8, 1959) is an American Republican Party activist and businessperson.[1] He is the founder and vice chairman and CEO of the voter advocacy group Republicans Overseas[2] and the National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee for the Oregon Republican Party.[3][1]
Early life and business activities
An immigrant from China, Yue became a businessman in the United States, based in Salem, Oregon.[4][5]
Republican Party activities
Since 2000,[6] Yue has been a Republican National Committee member from Oregon.[4][6] He is 10th in seniority among the 168 members of the RNC. As a Republican National Committeeman, Yue is known as a staunchly conservative grassroots supporter. In 2009, with attorney Jim Bopp, an Indiana RNC committeeman,[4][7] they co-founded the RNC "conservative steering committee" and co-drafted a resolution against Republican President George W. Bush's endorsement of the federal rescue of the financial industry and auto industry, and criticized then President-elect Barack Obama for his economic stimulus plan.[4] Yue criticized Bush for his support of the Medicare Part D prescription-drug benefit.[4] Yue later supported an RNC resolution that would require Republican candidates to meet a purity test before obtaining party support,[5] and another resolution in 2009 that claimed that the Democratic Party was "dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals"[7] and sought to require Republicans to label the Democratic Party as a "socialist" party.[5]
Yue clashed with RNC chairman Michael Steele and Oregon Republican Party chairman Bob Tiernan, who was known in Republican circles as Steele’s attack dog.[7][5] Yue and Bopp spearheaded an internal party fight to oust Steele from the national chairmanship after Steele was caught using donor funds to take staffers to a California lesbian bondage-themed strip club.[8][9][10] In 2010, Tiernan accused Yue of stirring up discord within the RNC and Oregon Republican Party; Yue, in turn, accused Tiernan of requiring "absolute loyalty."[5]
Yue was a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention, where he praised the party's ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin.[11] He was Oregon superdelegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention, pledged, in accordance to Oregon state law, to Mitt Romney.[12]
In April 2016, as a member of the Republican National Committee's rules committee, Yue proposed a change to the party's procedural rules that would make it more difficult for Republican leaders to place in nomination, at the 2016 Republican National Convention, the name of a candidate not already in the race. The debate over the proposal occurred as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz battled for the presidential nomination, raising the prospect of a contested convention.[6][13] Yue wrote a 1,300-word email accusing RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other party leaders of "institutional tyranny" over their opposition to his proposal.[6] The rules committee rejected Yue's proposal to change the rules.[13] Yue maneuvered to ensure Trump's nomination at the convention over the last-ditch objection of anti-Trump Republican holdouts.[14][15]
After a pro-Donald Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, Yue and most other Republican Party figures remained loyal to Trump, and sponsored a state Republican party resolution condemning the ten House Republicans who voted in favor of Trump's impeachment.[16][17] Yue played a key role in getting the Oregon Republican Party to adopt a resolution claiming that the storming of the Capitol was a "false flag" intended "to discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans."[18] In March 2021, Yue also appeared on a YouTube show hosted by Greyson Arnold, who has praised Nazi Germany and espoused racism and anti-Semitism; on the show, Yue said activist Nick Fuentes could one day have a role in picking Republican candidates.[17] After his appearance attracted scrutiny, Yue said that he was unaware of the views of Arnold and Fuentes at the time of his appearance on the show.[17]
In 2022, Yue was the Chief Sponsor of the RNC's Resolution in Support of Taiwan[19] and the Resolution to Hold China Accountable for COVID-19.[20]
References
- ^ a b Goldmacher, Shane; Isenstadt, Alex. "RNC member accuses party of 'institutional tyranny'". POLITICO. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- ^ "Trump or Biden? China expects no favours either way". BBC News. August 28, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- ^ "Leadership". Republicans Overseas.
- ^ a b c d e Jeff Mapes, Oregon's Yue in middle of RNC leadership fight, The Oregonian/OregonLive (January 6, 2009).
- ^ a b c d e Jeff Mapes, Tiernan-Yue spat roils Republican Party, The Oregonian/OregonLive (May 26, 2010).
- ^ a b c d Shane Goldmacher & Alex Isenstadt, RNC member accuses party of 'institutional tyranny', Politico (April 18, 2016).
- ^ a b c Jeff Mapes, GOP fights over labeling Democrats as Socialists, The Oregonian/OregonLive (April 23, 2009).
- ^ Jonathan Martin, As RNC conservatives launch Dump Steele effort, race returns to fore, Politico (December 26, 2010).
- ^ "Michael Steele and the strippers". The Guardian.
- ^ "Foster's Daily Democrat".
- ^ Harry Esteve, Oregon delegates say GOP convention will "energize people", The Oregonian (August 31, 2008).
- ^ Jeff Mapes, Republicans cancel first day of national convention as Isaac approaches, The Oregonian/OregonLive (August 25, 2012).
- ^ a b Jonathan Martin, Republicans Reject Effort to Alter Rules on Allowing New Candidate at Convention, New York Times (April 21, 2016).
- ^ Ed O'Keefe & Dan Balz, GOP moves closer to the base, and away from the broader public, in party platform, Washington Post (July 12, 2016).
- ^ Kyle Cheney, Never Trump plots last stand at Cleveland convention, Politico (July 17, 2016).
- ^ David Sider, The GOP's answer to its post-Trump blues: More Trump, Politico (January 27, 2021).
- ^ a b c Andrew Kaczynski; Drew Myers (June 29, 2021). "Top Oregon RNC official says he was unaware of pro-Nazi host and White national activist they discussed during YouTube chat". CNN.
- ^ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Alba, Davey; Epstein, Reid J. (March 1, 2021). "How Pro-Trump Forces Pushed a Lie About Antifa at the Capitol Riot". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ "RNC" (PDF).
- ^ "RNC" (PDF).