WASHINGTON — Ronna McDaniel mentioned Monday that she’s going to step down subsequent month as chairwoman of the Republican Nationwide Committee following former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of a brand new slate of leaders to direct the occasion.
McDaniel’s choice adopted Saturday’s South Carolina main and got here less than two weeks after Trump endorsed North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley to be the subsequent chairman of the RNC, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to be co-chair and prime marketing campaign aide Chris LaCivita to be the occasion’s chief working officer.
McDaniel’s choice was first reported by The New York Times.
In a press release, McDaniel mentioned it had been an “honor and privilege” to function chairwoman for seven years.
“Some of my proudest accomplishments include firing Nancy Pelosi, winning the popular vote in 2022, creating an Election Integrity Department, building the committee’s first small dollar grassroots donor program, strengthening our state parties through our Growing Republican Organizations to Win program, expanding the Party through minority outreach at our community centers, and launching Bank Your Vote to get Republicans to commit to voting early,” she mentioned.
“I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing,” she added. “The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.”
Trump hand-picked McDaniel after the 2016 election to function RNC chair as Reince Priebus left the publish to turn out to be his first chief of workers on the White Home. She was re-elected to a fourth time period in January 2023, heading off challenger Harmeet Dhillon.
McDaniel, 50, was the second lady to steer the RNC. She beforehand was chair of the Republican Get together in Michigan, the place she oversaw Trump’s profitable 2016 effort within the state.
Trump instructed Fox News this month that “some changes” have been possible on the RNC when he was requested about McDaniel’s efficiency.
“I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK initially in the RNC,” Trump mentioned within the interview. “I would say right now there’ll probably be some changes made.”
Scrutiny of McDaniel’s management on the RNC ramped up among party activists after the midterms in 2022, when Republicans misplaced a number of crucial Senate and governors’ races. Grassroots activists and conservative influencers upset with McDaniel’s management coalesced round Dhillon’s effort to unseat her. However McDaniel provided a present of power forward of the occasion’s winter conferences final yr, unveiling a listing of greater than 100 RNC members who backed her for an additional time period, and she or he simply defeated the problem.
Criticism of McDaniel’s management is concentrated on her handling of party finances and grassroots efforts. The occasion’s newest disclosure with the Federal Election Fee confirmed it was going through a money crunch, with lower than half as a lot cash within the financial institution as the Democratic National Committee reported on the finish of 2023.
Chatting with reporters in Beaufort, South Carolina, final week, Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law, was requested whether or not the RNC would assist to pay Trump’s authorized payments as he faces prosecution in 4 jurisdictions throughout the nation.
“Well, I said every penny will go to making sure Donald Trump will be the 47th president, to ensuring that we have great candidates to expand our lead in the House and to take back the Senate,” she said, including about offering funding for his authorized bills, “I actually don’t know where they stand on that.”
“Well, I think that his legal bills have already been covered at this point,” she mentioned when pressed additional.
LaCivita instructed reporters later within the week that the RNC won’t use occasion funds to cowl Trump-related authorized bills.
Requires change on the RNC ramped up forward of the occasion’s winter conferences in Las Vegas this month. Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and a co-founder of the right-wing group Turning Level USA who led the cost to oust McDaniel final yr, held a close-by convention dubbed the “Restoring National Confidence” summit — a transparent shot on the occasion.
Some noticed the give attention to McDaniel’s efficiency as a method for conservatives to redirect anger on the correct over Trump’s current electoral failings, notably within the midterms, after he elevated quite a lot of candidates who embraced his false claims in regards to the 2020 election and ended up dropping key statewide races in swing states.
Behind closed doors last winter, two RNC members engaged on the occasion’s inside overview of what went improper in the course of the earlier yr’s elections argued over whether or not the outcomes had extra to do with dangerous candidates or a scarcity of economic backing from the RNC. Tyler Bowyer, an RNC committeeman from Arizona who can also be a prime Turning Level government and spoke on the group’s summit final week, argued it was the cash, whereas Henry Barbour, an RNC committeeman from Mississippi who co-chaired the post-mortem effort, argued the losses have been due to candidate high quality.
In the end, two folks conversant in the occasion’s considering instructed NBC Information final yr {that a} final report was unlikely to be made public, though a draft copy was leaked, and it didn’t point out Trump.
After Trump secured commanding GOP victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, McDaniel mentioned it was time for the occasion to rally round him because the “eventual nominee,” she instructed Fox Information following the New Hampshire main.
Days later, a Trump ally and RNC committeeman proposed a resolution to be considered on the occasion’s winter conferences that may declare Trump the occasion’s presumptive nominee. However after pushback, Trump himself referred to as for the decision to be scrapped.
Trump’s rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, seized on the short-lived effort, referring to it repeatedly on the path in South Carolina. She has mentioned it confirmed the occasion is “clearly not” an trustworthy dealer.
