Republican Party leader Ronna McDaniel to step down after pressure from
Trump
Send a link to a friend
[February 27, 2024]
By Doina Chiacu and Helen Coster
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican Party leader Ronna McDaniel
said on Monday she was stepping down, in a power shakeup that followed
weeks of public pressure from the party's likely 2024 nominee, Donald
Trump.
The move reflected the former president's sway over the party as he
prepares for a likely rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in
November.
Following a Feb. 5 meeting with McDaniel, Trump wrote on social media
that he would be pushing for changes at the Republican National
Committee (RNC) after South Carolina's primary on Saturday, which he
handily won over the state's former governor, Nikki Haley.
A week later, he endorsed North Carolina Republican Party Chair Michael
Whatley as the next RNC chair and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as
co-chair, moving to cement his grip over the organization. Whatley has
repeated Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, according
to a CNN report.
"The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it
has always been my intention to honor that tradition. I remain committed
to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the
ballot in November," McDaniel said in a statement.
She thanked Trump and said the move would be effective at the RNC's
spring meeting on March 8, three days after Super Tuesday Republican
nominating contests in 15 states and one U.S. territory. RNC co-chair
Drew McKissick also said he would step down.
The RNC plays a critical role in raising money for the nominee,
promoting the party's message, marshalling resources and turning out
voters.
Whoever replaces McDaniel will face the challenge of unifying a
fractured party.
McDaniel, who is in her fourth two-year term as RNC chair, was
re-elected last year. But she has faced criticism from some Republicans
over fundraising and the party's performance at the ballot box. Trump
was defeated in 2020, and the party turned in a weaker-than-expected
performance in the 2022 midterm elections.
[to top of second column]
|
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel speaks to the
audience at the third Republican candidates' presidential debate in
Miami, Florida, November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar/file photo
McDaniel's critics were emboldened earlier in February when
financial disclosures showed the RNC had just $8 million in cash at
the end of December - the lowest level in a decade - and the
Democratic National Committee raised more campaign funds than the
RNC.
Trump's Feb. 5 meeting with McDaniel was acrimonious, a source with
direct knowledge said, with McDaniel warning Trump that many of his
donors were giving money to Turning Point USA, the conservative
youth organization headed by Charlie Kirk, creating a money crunch
for the RNC.
As Trump tries to cement his grip on party leadership, an RNC member
submitted resolutions that would prohibit the party from paying his
legal bills.
The Republican former president faces four criminal trials and was
recently ordered to pay about $540 million in judgments in two civil
cases. He denies all wrongdoing.
Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, who Trump has proposed serve
as RNC's chief operating officer in the reshuffling, told reporters
on Friday that the organization would not use raised funds to pay
for Trump's legal bills.
Trump endorsed McDaniel, the niece of his former critic and 2012
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, for RNC chair after she
helped deliver her home state of Michigan in the 2016 presidential
election in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
McDaniel used her full name, Ronna Romney McDaniel, in public life,
but she dropped the middle name after that endorsement. Multiple
news outlets reported that Trump asked her to do so.
Mitt Romney, now a U.S. senator from Utah, denounced Trump as a
"phony, a fraud" in a blistering March 2016 speech in which he urged
Republicans to reject their own frontrunner.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Helen Coster in New
York; Additional reporting by Steve Holland in New York; Editing by
Bernadette Baum, Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |