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The leader of our group was 19-year-old Joycelyn McKissick, a fellow student of mine and the daughter of Floyd McKissick, a local civil rights leader and lawyer hated by many Whites in the area.

Fortunately for us, the White thugs didn’t get a chance to go after us because of the courage of McKissick.

It was Mr. McKissick who prevailed in the co-chairman contest last year, when Mr. Whatley, who was trailing in the vote, withdrew from the contest after the second ballot.

Under the party’s rules, Mr. McKissick would become the committee’s interim chairman after Ms. McDaniel steps down and until her replacement is elected by the committee.

Mr. McKissick, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, has in recent days expressed his appetite for the job directly to Mr. Trump, several people familiar with the situation said.