Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel told former President Donald Trump that she would resign at the end of the month after multiple calls for her to resign.
The New York Times reported on McDaniel's plans on Tuesday, with an RNC spokesman pushing back and pointing out that a final decision has not yet been made.
'Nothing has changed. “That will be decided after South Carolina,” RNC spokesman Kieth Schipper told .
South Carolina has a February 24 primary that Trump hopes to win by a margin large enough to oust his final rival, the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador. Nikki Haley is out of the race.
Trump wants to promote North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley to take McDaniel's place, sources told the Times.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel told former President Donald Trump that she would resign at the end of the month after multiple calls for her to resign
Trump appeared to suggest on his Truth Social account on Tuesday that he would decide the future of the RNC after the South Carolina primary on February 24.
“Ronna is now head of the RNC and I will make a decision on my recommendations for RNC growth the day after the South Carolina primary,” he buried in a post in which he boasted about his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire A preview of his victories was a visit to Nevada amid the primaries and caucuses this week.
A number of MAGA-affiliated Republicans have called on McDaniel to resign in recent months, including suggestions from Trump in interviews and social media posts.
Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, told in Las Vegas last Monday that he wants Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump or failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to take over the party.
“I think Vivek would be great.” “Or Don Jr. or Lara Trump,” Kirk said. “I mean, if the Trump campaign and the RNC merge, which they're doing at the convention, why wouldn't the RNC chairman be Don Jr.?” He works hard, he raises a lot of money. “He’s super intuitive.”
“Do you think he would want to do that?” asked Kirk.
“No, that’s why he’d be great,” he insisted. “But Lara Trump would also be a good choice.” She's really smart, great on TV. “Vivek would do a good job.”
“So I’m thinking Vivek, Don Jr. or Lara Trump,” he repeated. “I think you need to leave the committee.” That is my personal opinion. You need to leave this whole country club. “You have to think differently, you have to mix things up.”
Kirk said if McDaniel “goes away, then great.”
“We tried to get another chair last January – we were unsuccessful,” Kirk said. “And we've been really unhappy over the last few months with the way the RNC has handled several things.”
Trump once had a close relationship with Chairwoman McDaniel, but it soured after 2020 and the 2022 midterm elections when MAGA-aligned Republicans began complaining about her inability to deliver victories
Kirk wants the RNC's “Country Club” to be disbanded and new blood brought into the leadership. And he thinks that should come from the pro-Trump world, since the campaign and RNC will merge at the time of the convention in the summer.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) responded to the report with a statement claiming McDaniel was only “the latest American to lose his job under Donald Trump.”
DNC spokesman Alex Floyd wrote in a statement that Trump is “pushing to replace his MAGA loyalist with an election-denying conspiracy theorist.”
At Kirk's Turning Point conference last week, Steve Bannon delivered remarks denouncing the chairwoman to a crowd that included some RNC committee members.
“Trump is the only one who has not only stood up for this country, he has stood up for the citizens of this country – and in particular he has stood up for the working class of this country,” Bannon said. “And that’s why they hate him. And that's why the RNC hates him. Because they only respond to the fat cat donors and the Murdochs.'
In a call and response, Bannon asked, “Should Ronna McDaniel resign immediately?” The crowd responded with a resounding, “Yes!”
“Are we going to support everything the RNC does until they're gone?” He followed up, to which the crowd responded “No!”
Ramaswamy said during the third RNC-led presidential primary debate in Miami, Florida, in early November that he wanted McDaniel to resign.
He called the GOP a “party of losers” and called on the RNC chairwoman to “come on stage tonight” and resign from her position.