Will RNC Chair Get the Boot?

MIAMI (ChurchMilitant.com) – After the GOP came up short in yet another election cycle, conservatives are calling on the Republican National Convention chair to resign.

After Republicans suffered losses across the country on Tuesday, GOP voters voiced their frustrations over the continued failures of Ronna McDaniel. 

During Wednesday’s Republican primary debate, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy proclaimed:

We’ve become a party of losers … Let’s speak the truth: Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022 — no red wave, that never came — we got trounced last night in 2023, and I think that we have to have accountability in our party. 

Ramaswamy continued, “For that matter, Ronna, if you want to come on stage tonight … look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign, I will … yield my time to you.”

The 38-year-old presidential candidate’s comments echoed the sentiments of numerous online posts made by frustrated voters. Political commentator Monica Crowley was another to join in the push for McDaniel to vacate her position:

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson outlined McDaniel’s poor performance in his call for her resignation, posting: 

Timcast reported that a source sitting near the RNC chair at the Wednesday debate overheard her allegedly say of Ramaswamy, “He’s an a**hole. Total a**hole. He’s desperate because he’s doing bad in the polls. He won’t be getting a cent from us.”

Another controversy surrounding McDaniel’s leadership involves her attempt to align with the gay community. In 2021, McDaniel announced the formation of an RNC Pride Coalition at the Log Cabin Republicans’ event at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

The Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-sodomy Republican organization, describes itself as “the nation’s original and largest organization representing LGBT conservatives and straight allies who support fairness, freedom and equality for all Americans.”

The group professes, “All Americans have the right to liberty and equality. We believe equality for LGBT Americans is in the finest tradition of the Republican Party. We educate our party about why inclusion wins. Opposing LGBT equality is inconsistent with the GOP’s core principles of smaller government and personal freedom.”

At the event, the RNC chair declared, “Conservatives in Log Cabin don’t just share our vision for a free, secure and prosperous America — they enrich it by adding unique perspectives to our party and recruiting even more diverse candidates and supporters to join our cause.”

“The RNC is launching our first-ever RNC Pride Coalition,” she went on, adding that it will “work alongside our other coalition groups to invest in communities and mobilize support for the upcoming midterms.”

McDaniel reportedly told RNC members in an email that the coalition would not “undermine our values.” Little is known about the coalition, including the question of whether it still exists after its formation sparked major controversy and condemnation because the GOP’s official platform is in opposition to the views of the pro-gay group.

The 2016 party platform, readopted in 2020, states, “The cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.” It even goes so far as to make these bold statements: “The data and the facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mom and dad … We do not accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, and we urge its reversal.” Some fear the forthcoming official platform for 2024 will alter some of these statements. 

McDaniel is currently serving her 4th term as leader of the RNC after winning the group’s election in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. President Trump endorsed her in the first three races, but he did not endorse either McDaniel or attorney Harmeet Dhillon this January, commenting, “I like both of them. … Let them fight it out.” The former president did congratulate McDaniel after her victory.