The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronn McDaniel, is reportedly planning on stepping down from her position shortly after South Carolina’s Republican primary contest on February 24, which was first reported by the New York Times.
McDaniel had recently been facing a lot of pushback from Trump’s allies, especially with a series of losses in recent years under her and Trump’s tenures. She was also being fiercely criticized for the RNC’s poor finances in comparison to Democrats, especially when entering an election year.
Trump has uncharacteristically been very gracious to McDaniel, despite it not generally being in his nature to do so. McDaniel, and Trump met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Monday. Shortly after this meeting Trump posted on Truth Social, “Ronna is now Head of the RNC, and I’ll be making a decision the day after the South Carolina Primary as to my recommendations for RNC Growth,” also referring to McDaniel as his “friend.”
McDaniel had been considering leaving her post before the end of her two year term which she was elected to last year. McDaniel is currently one of the longest serving RNC Chairs in modern GOP history, where she cemented her reputation as a somewhat close ally of the former President when started alongside Trump in 2017. She also happens to hail from the long-standing political Romney family, and served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party, which faces its own internal crises.
Trump’s plans in terms of “recommendations” include shifting the committee’s focus to more election denialism, and election security, as well as reversing the dismal fundraising and increasing turnout. To do this, Trump is reportedly planning on endorsing Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Primary. Whatley is another patron of Trump’s “Big Lie” and also is also credited by the former President for delivering the State of North Carolina in 2020.