'Could sink us in 2024': Trump allies want him to force resignation of 'ineffective' RNC chair
After crushing losses across multiple states in last week's elections, Republican operatives are now urging former President Donald Trump to lean on Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel until she resigns.
According to CNBC, an ouster of McDaniel would be unlikely without a push from Trump, as McDaniel was reelected to another two-year term in her position in January. This has reportedly led to efforts within the Republican Party to force the RNC chairwoman's resignation ahead of the 2024 presidential election. During a recent appearance on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast, right-wing commentator Rogan O'Handley suggested Trump "get someone fresh" for the position.
"I’m nervous that we have someone that is either ineffective, or actively working against us. And it could sink us in 2024," O’Handley told Bannon when asked what message he wanted to send to the former president. “The time is now. We have about a year until the 2024 election. Let’s get someone new."
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Republicans fumbled two key objectives on November 7 — recapturing the governor's mansion in Kentucky, where Trump won with almost 63% of the vote in 2020, and recapturing the Virginia legislature, where Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin was elected in 2021. The GOP also failed to stop Ohioans from voting to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitution, despite Ohio voting for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and having a Republican trifecta in the state legislature.
Aside from recent election losses, the RNC is currently trailing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in fundraising. DNC chair Jaime Harrison has raised $13 million through September of this year, with roughly $20 million in cash on hand as of October. McDaniel only managed to raise $6 million in that same time period for a war chest of just $9.2 million by comparison.
An unnamed Republican source told CNBC that Trump had grown "increasingly sour" on McDaniel dating back to 2020, when he apparently felt that she didn't do enough to help him overturn election results in key swing states that decided the electoral college. However, the ex-president has since called her a “real, good friend," and that she had so far done a "fantastic job" running the Republican Party.
McDaniel, for her part, said on CNN that Trump wouldn't lose her endorsement even if he was found guilty in any of his multiple criminal trials next year. Because it's customary for an RNC chair to not endorse one specific candidate in a primary, McDaniel has not yet explicitly endorsed Trump's 2024 campaign.
READ MORE: An omen? Virginia Republicans sought a middle ground on abortion — and still lost the legislature
