Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel is expected to step down after the South Carolina primary.
McDaniel has come under heavy criticism over disappointing performances in congressional races the last several election cycles, with some questioning her ability to embrace the “MAGA” wing of the party.
The niece of anti-Trump Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), McDaniel told former President Donald Trump that she plans to step down from her role as party chair after the South Carolina primary on February 24, multiple outlets reported, including The New York Times.
Trump, the de facto leader of the party and presumptive presidential nominee, appeared on Newsmax on Monday, where host Rob Schmitt asked him whether McDaniel should step down given the party’s fundraising issues and election cycle performances.
“Well, I think she knows that,” Trump answered. “I think she understands that.”
The same day the Newsmax interview aired, McDaniel met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where the two apparently discussed her stepping aside.
McDaniel has been taking flak over the last several months.
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, in the middle of the third primary debate, called for McDaniel to take responsibility for the party’s failures and resign.
“We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day. It is a cancer to the Republican establishment. I speak the truth. I mean, since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022. No red wave. That never came. … And I think that we have to have accountability in our party,” Ramaswamy said, according to The Hill.
Ramaswamy then invited McDaniel to resign on stage: “For that matter, Ronna, if you want to come on stage tonight, you want to look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign, I will turn over my — yield my time to you.”
In 2023, McDaniel managed to keep her chair in the face of some high-profile challengers to her leadership, including lawyer and Republican official Harmeet Dhillon, as well as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Trump is expected to back the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, Michael Whatley, to replace McDaniel, according to NYT.
