'An embarrassing mess': Analyst details why RNC chair’s days are likely numbered — thanks to Trump

06 February 2024

When Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel dropped "Romney" from her RNC correspondence, it was an obvious effort to distance herself from former President Donald Trump's political foes — namely, her uncle, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). At a time when MAGA Republicans like "War Room" host Steve Bannon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell are calling for her to be replaced as RNC chair, McDaniel clearly doesn't want to remind Trump supporters that she is Sen. Romney's niece.

But McDaniel's efforts to show off her MAGA credentials don't appear to be impressing Trump.

During a Sunday, February 4 interview, Fox News' Maria Bartiromo brought up McDaniel. And Trump didn't sound enthusiastic about her serving as RNC chair.

Trump said of McDaniel, "I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK, initially, in the RNC. I would say right now, there'll probably be some changes made."

In a February 5 opinion column, MSNBC's Steve Benen lays out some reasons why McDaniel's days as RNC chair may be numbered.

"McDaniel's tenure as chair of the Republican National Committee has seen its share of downturns," Benen explains. "As regular readers know, after Trump chose her for the RNC role in 2017, McDaniel's first election cycle was rough: The party lost 40 House seats and its majority in the chamber. The party also saw its share of struggles in 2019 and 2020. The 2022 midterms were far from great for Republicans, too."

Benen continues, "Making matters slightly worse, the 2024 cycle isn't exactly going the RNC's way, either. McDaniel pleaded with Trump to participate in the party's presidential primary debates, and he ignored her. The RNC urged other leading presidential hopefuls not to participate in a recent Family Leader forum in Iowa, and they ignored the party, too."

The MSNBC columnist and "Rachel Maddow Show" producer notes that according to CNBC, Trump has grown "increasingly sour" on McDaniel despite her devotion to him.

"McDaniel continues to show Trump great loyalty — the day after the New Hampshire primary, the RNC publicly encouraged Nikki Haley to end her candidacy in order to help Trump — but there's no reason to believe the former president will see this as sufficient," Benen observes. "As for the bigger picture, internal Republican politics at the national level and across several state parties appears to be an embarrassing mess. That does not mean, however, that things can't get worse."

Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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