When Ronna McDaniel was re-elected as chair of the Republican National Committee a year ago, it was a triumph of sorts for the incumbent. McDaniel easily defeated a credible challenger, and she was positioned to be the longest-serving RNC chair since the 19th century. At that point, her plan was to serve a full term, which positioned McDaniel to help steer the party through the 2024 elections.
Of course, in the era of Donald Trump, plans change.
In recent weeks, multiple reports indicated that the RNC chair would step down from her role after South Carolina’s presidential primary. As NBC News reported, the intraparty chatter was correct.
Ronna McDaniel said Monday that she will step down next month as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee following former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of a new slate of leaders to direct the party. … McDaniel’s decision was first reported by The New York Times.
RNC Co-Chair Drew McKissick is also stepping down. His announcement coincided with a tweet that read, “‘Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.’ — Proverbs 26:20.”
The developments are not altogether surprising. On the contrary, the question wasn’t whether the RNC chair would step down, but rather, when.
McDaniel’s tenure has seen its share of setbacks. As regular readers know, after Trump chose her for the RNC role in early 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.
Making matters slightly worse, the 2024 cycle wasn’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.
In the 2023 elections, after Democrats fared unexpectedly well in key races in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, CNBC reported that some on Team Trump were beginning to blame the RNC chair for the party’s difficulties, and the former president himself had grown “increasingly sour” on McDaniel, despite the fact that it was his idea to put her in this position.
The party’s likely 2024 nominee proceeded to seal the RNC chair’s fate earlier this month when he told Fox News, in reference to 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.”
A week later, the former president abandoned all subtlety, announcing his support for a new RNC leadership team: Michael Whatley, the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, was Trump’s choice to replace McDaniel, and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, was his choice to serve as RNC vice chair. There will have to be an intraparty election to choose the RNC’s new leaders, and it’s not yet clear whether Whatley and Lara Trump will face rivals. In the meantime, as McDaniel prepares to exit the stage, she’s learning a lesson about how her party currently operates. The outgoing RNC chair was steadfast in showing Trump loyalty, which ultimately wasn’t enough. As one RNC committee member recently told The Washington Post, “She’s been kissing his butt for years. But loyalty is a one-way street with Donald Trump.” As others have learned over time, the former president sees loyalty as something he’s supposed to receive, never bestow. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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