Trump turning on former ally Ronna McDaniel as Republican losses pile up: Report

Former President Donald Trump may be turning on a top ally in the Republican Party as the GOP has racked up major election losses in recent years.

Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is becoming “increasingly sour” on Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a new report claimed.

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The report suggests several people close to the former president are trying to get him to turn on McDaniel, with one person familiar with the matter telling CNBC that “if there’s enough pressure from us and Trump, McDaniel might just decide, ‘this is humiliating,’ and step down.”

Trump has offered his support to McDaniel several times and reportedly was lobbying for her when she ran for a fourth term as RNC chairwoman in January. The former president congratulated McDaniel when she won her fourth term, calling it a “big WIN.”

During a speech last month, Trump said McDaniel was doing a “fantastic job” and touted her as a “real good friend.” People close to Trump weren’t unified in saying the former president wants to see McDaniel kicked out of her role. One person said he or she wasn’t aware of any pressure to get Trump to call for McDaniel to resign.

Despite Trump’s public praise in the past, many in the GOP have been critical of the chairwoman, with fellow presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy calling for McDaniel to resign at the GOP debate last week.

“I speak the truth. I mean, 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,” Ramaswamy said at the debate. “And I think that we have to have accountability in our party. For that matter, Ronna, if you want to come onstage tonight, you want to look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign, I will turn over my — yield my time to you.”

McDaniel has rebuffed calls to resign, saying she stands by her record as RNC chairwoman, pointing out that Republicans won back control of the House of Representatives in 2022.

“Listen, he’s at 4%. He needs a headline. I’m going to say what I’ve been saying to the Republicans all along: Our headlines should be about Joe Biden, fentanyl, the border, crime, and terrible things that are happening in this country that the American people are looking to our party for solutions, but I also will stand by my record as RNC chair,” McDaniel said in response to Ramaswamy while on Fox Business last week.

The RNC, in a statement to the Washington Examiner, said it is focused on defeating President Joe Biden in the 2024 election and added it will “continue to communicate with all campaigns and candidates as we look forward to putting our battle-tested infrastructure behind our Presidential nominee.”

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“Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and the entire Republican National Committee is laser-focused on beating Biden next fall. The RNC has already staffed up in 15 states, filed over 70 election integrity lawsuits, launched Bank Your Vote, established a permanent Election Integrity department, and continues to hold Joe Biden’s feet to the fire,” a spokesperson for the RNC continued.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.