Former President Donald Trump hinted on Newsmax Monday that he thinks Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel should resign—although he later referred to her as a “friend”—as the RNC grapples with repercussions from its dismal financial performance, reporting its lowest fundraising figures in the past decade last week.
Trump has suggested multiple times in recent days he wants McDaniel to step down, telling Fox Business Sunday there will “probably be some changes made” at the RNC and saying on Newsmax Monday when asked if McDaniel should resign, “I think she knows that, I think she understands that.”
Criticism has been brewing against McDaniel’s leadership in recent months, with critics citing the Republican Party’s string of losses in 2022 and 2023 elections and further-right Republicans believing the party’s leadership is too out of touch with its grassroots supporters, the Associated Press notes.
Those attacks were given fresh fodder last week when the RNC reported its year end fundraising totals, taking in $87.2 million in 2023 and ending the year with $8 million in cash and $1.8 million in debt—as compared with $176.6 million raised in 2022 with $14.3 million on hand.
That marks the lowest amount the party has raised since 2013, not adjusting for inflation, when it raised $80.7 million, and the least amount of cash it’s had on hand at the end of the year since it held $5 million in 2014.
Democrats heavily outraised the RNC, with the Democratic National Committee reporting it raised $120 million in 2023 and ended the year with $21 million on hand.
When combined with Trump’s principal campaign committee, Republicans have approximately $41 million in cash, as compared to $67 million between the DNC and President Joe Biden’s campaign.
Though Trump criticized McDaniel in public appearances Sunday and Monday, he also praised her as a “friend” who helped secure his 2016 win in Michigan in a Truth Social post Monday. Trump’s comments about McDaniel came hours after he taped his Newsmax interview, the Washington Post noted, and after he met with McDaniel Monday at Mar-A-Lago, which sources described as “friendly” and said Trump didn’t make any “ultimatums.”
In November, donors were shying away from donating to the RNC for a variety of reasons, including not wanting to back Trump, holding off until 2024, and issues with the party’s leadership. McDaniel told the publication she chalked fundraising issues up to donors preferring to support their favored candidates in the GOP primary, and that once it comes to the general election, “we will merge and … we’ll be working together to win the White House.”
Trump said Monday he’ll announce his recommendations for the RNC the day after the South Carolina primary, which will take place Feb. 24. The Post reported Monday Trump “has not committed to any decision” yet on McDaniel’s fate. In addition to McDaniel stepping down and being replaced, Politico notes it’s also possible Trump could install a loyalist at the RNC who has “significant operational control,” seizing power from McDaniel even as she remains in her role.
$241.1 million. That’s how much the RNC raised in 2019, the last year prior to a general election, according to Federal Election Commission filings, ending the year with $72 million on hand.
McDaniel has served as RNC chair since 2017—making her the longest-serving head of the committee in modern history—and was last reelected to a fourth term in Jan. 2023. Trump selected McDaniel to lead the RNC after he won the 2016 election and has often defended her but stayed out of her last reelection bid and has criticized the RNC for holding GOP primary debates, which he did not participate in. The Post reports he’s also privately criticized McDaniel for not doing enough on so-called “election integrity,” and Trump suggested to Newsmax he also doesn’t like Republicans’ struggle to appeal to voters on abortion. Trump’s new suggestions that McDaniel should be ousted come after the RNC held its winter meeting in Las Vegas last week, where the New York Times reports party leaders authorized a line of credit in response to their cash woes and planned an “austere budget” for 2024. The RNC also faced resistance as right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and his group Turning Point held its own counterprogramming event in Las Vegas designed to attack the national committee, which it dubbed “Restoring National Confidence,” adopting the RNC’s initials.