Ronna McDaniel Faces Mounting GOP Criticism
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is deeply unpopular among conservative voters, and the growing criticism of her failures among Republican political leaders is leading to concerns about the Republican Party going into the 2024 election.
JUST IN: Ordinary conservatives ask @GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel to resign. Virtually everyone who just commented on her post moments ago urged her to quit, a day after @VivekGRamaswamy again said she has failed to win elections for Republicans, and just hours after CNN… pic.twitter.com/ExgufMjDsU
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) December 7, 2023
Following yet another disappointing campaign cycle in the 2022 elections, there were widespread calls for McDaniel’s resignation or for the RNC to vote in a better chair. However, McDaniel won her fourth term as chairwoman in January after facing challenges from two America First candidates who were significantly more popular among the conservative base — attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Her shocking re-election came despite state Republican parties in Nebraska, Washington, Alabama and Texas expressly opposing McDaniel’s candidacy.
After being re-elected, McDaniel issued a statement acknowledging concerns from her critics — though she has done little to assuage their fears in the months since then.
“We need all of us. We heard you, grassroots. We know. We heard Harmeet, we heard Mike Lindell. But with us united and all of us going together, the Democrats are going to hear us in 2024 when we take back the White House and the Senate,” her statement read.
Nearly one year later, the animosity toward McDaniel has only increased. One of her strongest critics is Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has repeatedly called McDaniel out for failing to deliver election victories, failing to attract young voters to the GOP and continuing to court leftist journalists to host Republican debates.
“I’m sick and tired of this Republican Establishment that has made us a party of losers. Where is the accountability for years of losing: 2018, 2020, 2022 and now last night? I’m calling on @GOPChairwoman to resign tonight,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing a clip of himself calling McDaniel out to her face during the third GOP primary debate.
“We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day,” Ramaswamy said during the debate. “We have to have accountability in our party. For that matter, Ronna, if you want to come on stage tonight and look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign, I will turn over, yield my time to you.”
I’m sick and tired of this Republican Establishment that has made us a party of losers. Where is the accountability for years of losing: 2018, 2020, 2022 and now last night? I’m calling on @GOPChairwoman to resign tonight. pic.twitter.com/8hxVqWGlwL
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 9, 2023
Ramaswamy has even gone so far as to launch a petition to oust McDaniel.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has also joined in on the criticism of McDaniel and the RNC, especially in light of recent election losses.
“The RNC became a very important part of winning elections,” Huckabee said during a recent interview. “I’m not seeing that right now. It seems like that we raise money, but we don’t raise that much. But we don’t have a message.”
Meanwhile, reports have indicated former President Donald Trump is frustrated with McDaniel and the RNC as well.
The McDaniel-run RNC has tried to tout its efforts to get more Republicans to vote early and vote by mail through its “Bank Your Vote” program. They also tout the fact that they’ve already sent staff to swing states for get-out-the-vote efforts and election monitoring. The RNC has also touted filing more than 70 election integrity lawsuits and establishing a permanent Election Integrity Department.
However, many Republicans have pointed out that these actions are far too late — as the RNC is known for being far behind the Democrats in nearly every aspect of activism and strategy.
“They should have done it 10 years ago,” a Republican strategist reportedly said, according to The Hill. “Because we’re basically half a decade behind the Democrats when it comes to chasing ballots.”
“It’s not necessarily her fault per se,” the strategist added. “But it should have been done following the 2020 election because that was the blaring red light.”