Ronna McDaniel To Resign As Chair Of The RNC

Ronna McDaniel announced her resignation as the chair of the Republican National Committee, as President Donald Trump looks to place a team of loyalists as the leaders of the party.

“The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition,” McDaniel said in a statement this morning.

She said that she will leave her post at the March 8 meeting of the RNC.

Her exit is not a surprise. Trump has backed Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, for the post, with his daughter in law Lara Trump as co-chair. Trump also wants his senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, to serve as the RNC’s COO.

McDaniel has been chair since 2017. She noted, among other things, that the party retook control of the House during her tenure, in the 2022 cycle. But the party also underperformed expectations, and has lost a series of special elections in the past year. The party also has lagged in fundraising, while one member has proposed a resolution that would bar the RNC from paying Trump’s legal bills. Another would bar the party from coordinating with the Trump campaign until he has amassed enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

Over the weekend, LaCivita released a statement pushing back on that proposal. “The primary is over and it is the RNC’s sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House. Efforts to delay that assist Joe Biden in the destruction of our nation. Republicans cannot stand on the sidelines and allow this to happen.”

Trump won the South Carolina primary on Saturday by a 20 point margin, but Nikki Haley has vowed to stay in the race.