Ronna McDaniel is the chairwoman of the RNC and one of the members of the Republican Establishment that the MAGA base likes the least, primarily because of her seeming attempts to push the party to the left on culture war topics, lackluster support for Donald Trump, and obvious air of elitism.
So, likely sensing the base’s dislike of her growing, particularly after Vivek used his debate performance to obliterate her, Ronna appeared on Fox News to discuss the general situation and why she should keep her job. That decision ended disastrously for her, as she melted down when asked why she should stay chairwoman of the RNC when the party keeps underperforming in elections.
Laura Ingraham began quite frankly, asking Ronna, “All right. Joining me now is Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Ronna, thanks so much for being with us. Vivek, and others are saying that under your leadership, Republicans have lost election after election and positing the question, you know, why should you retain your job, given the track record of the party under your leadership? And to that, what do you say?”
Ronna didn’t really give a good reason, instead just saying that she thinks the focus should be on Joe Biden. In her words: “Well, first, I’m going to continue to focus on Joe Biden and Democrats. And I think there was a moment missed during that debate, Viva vache, to talk about the fact that we still have 13 American hostages in Israel, the fact that for the first time ever in the history of either party, we had a Jewish co-sponsor for a debate, and we are in very perilous times in our country. And I do think Republican voters, and I hear this echoed all the time, are tired of the circular firing squad within our party. And they’re saying, can we please talk about Joe Biden and the Democrats and the border and fentanyl and crime and what’s happening to our kids and inflation? But I’ll definitely defend my record as chair.”
Ingraham then pressed Ronna on accountability, and Ronna somewhat snippily responded, “I’m not trying to avoid anything. Let me promise you that. Laura. Listen, when, when Vivek didn’t vote in 2016, I was leading Michigan to the first win in history and 30 years and 2018. We defied the odds. We got three senators, people like Josh Hawley, that allowed President Trump to build the largest conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and 2022 the RNC, which is a turnout machine, right. We’re not the messengers, we don’t create the messages for the campaigns. Those are the consultants who get very well paid.”
Ingraham then pressed Ronna again, this time asking about the RNC’s disappointing decisions in Virginia and the changing story surrounding them. She asked, “One of the things that happened was, I think, in Virginia, people were wondering where the money was. Whether they were gonna get some help from the RNC. And I know at one point you said that you were not asked for money in Virginia, but a source Republican source familiar with the Youngkin team in Virginia told “The Angle” late tonight that that is false, meaning your story keeps changing. Anyone who thinks Virginia Republicans wouldn’t want to help when we knew we’d be outspent isn’t being serious. You know, Ronna, they were outspent by $8 million.”
Ronna, in response, gave excuses and melted down somewhat, saying, “A lot of people don’t understand fundraising. I can’t raise state dollars. I don’t get unlimited convention and state dollars. And these were State House and State Senate races. The federal committee, so I mean, come on. Let, can you, these are people who come after me all the time. They’re on Twitter. They’re all the time. And let’s see their results. What did they do in Virginia? How much money did they get? But let me stand by something else. In 2022. You took back the House and the RNC partner, we got to building the road and we’re launching bank your vote. We’ve got to do that.“
Watch their back and forth here:
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Ronna Romney McDaniel, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70728384
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