After Vivek Ramaswamy called the GOP Chairwoman out on the GOP debate stage, is it finally over for Ronna Romney McDaniel?

Since taking the helm in 2017, McDaniel’s tenure has been marked by disappointing losses, missed opportunities, and growing dissatisfaction within her own party. Now the Republican National Committee Chairwoman is facing calls for resignation. 

Her failures to allocate campaign funding properly, and inability to display strong leadership has not only cost the party elections, but voters as well. Is it time for new blood to revive the GOP party’s leadership? 

Find out in today’s video all the reasons McDaniel should resign and why it’s critical to the party’s survival. 

Ramaswamy’s brazen critique of RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel at the presidential debate underscored the simmering dissatisfaction Republicans have with Ronna’s leadership. McDaniel has led the RNC since 2017 after being tapped for the role by then-President Donald Trump.

Under her, Republicans have suffered and continue to suffer disappointing losses, failing to make bigger gains in elections like the 2018 and 2020 midterms despite chances to pick up seats. 

Ramaswamy launched a blistering attack against McDaniel during his debate remarks, saying:

In unusually direct criticism of his own party head, Ramaswamy challenged McDaniel to resign in front of voters, blaming her leadership for the “cancer” of repeated defeats since 2017. Vivek pointed to the losses in Kentucky and Virginia as recent reminders of the party’s losing streak. 

But McDaniel responded to Vivek’s criticism by going on CNN of all places to say she’s “Proud of the RNC for what they’re doing”.

It seems like McDaniel is focused on shifting the blame away from herself and towards the candidates. While it’s true, some races may not be winnable, it’s still the party’s role to support winnable candidates in critical races – something she has failed to do in many cases.  

McDaniel, who was re-elected as RNC chair in 2021, has defended her record, noting successes like aiding in the GOP’s takeover of the Michigan State for the first time in 30 years. 

However, Charlie Kirk, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, agreed with Ramaswamy’s message. Kirk publicly backed his criticisms of McDaniel, arguing a new direction was needed if losses kept occurring, saying, “When an NFL team keeps losing games, the coach gets fired. So why does the RNC keep going to war led by the same losers who failed last time?”

Whether Republicans love her or hate her, this is supposed to be her final term as chairwoman – something she announced during her 3rd term before running for another term in 2023. So it doesn’t seem like McDaniel is great at keeping her word based on this alone. 

But maybe it is time for her to give up the position of Chair, there is obviously a huge rift within the party between its activist base hungry for victories and the current leadership. 

This rift did not erupt overnight though. Republicans are angry over her use of funds for one thing. She has used money from GOP donors for her personal uses like nearly $100,000 on her hair and makeup. 

Her frivolous spending has led insiders to claim she’s using donor money as a ‘personal piggy bank’. Rather than stopping the steal, she’s stealing donor money for herself. 

According to Federal Election Committee filings, she spent nearly half-a-million dollars on her luxury Washington, D.C. apartment and another $75,000 on beauty and spa treatments. 

In all fairness, in the past the RNC has paid for an apartment in Washington DC and preparations for media appearances for the Chair. But problems with McDaniel run much deeper than that.   

Her opponent for RNC chair in the 2023 election, Harmeet Dhillon, highlighted some of the reasons for dissatisfaction within the party.  

When she was asked by Laura Ingraham to account for the party’s performance, McDaniel clearly evaded the question:

Even Trump seems to be souring on McDaniel – a blow for the Chairwoman who has been a huge defender of Trump since her appointment by him in 2017. While it’s not clear whether Trump will ask her to resign, he recently said she had done a “fantastic job” running the RNC during a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

The turning point for Trump may be the anger party insiders feel following the Virginia elections where Republicans failed to win majorities in either the House of Delegates or the state Senate. The chairman of Virginia’s Republican Party, Rich Anderson, accused the RNC of having refused to help finance GOP campaigns for state legislative seats that could have tilted control of the chambers in favor of the GOP.

According to Anderson, he met with RNC officials earlier this year asking for help financing tough races, but that the committee turned him down saying that it was too difficult to raise money in an off-year.

There may be some truth to that since the RNC is lagging behind the DNC in terms of fundraising. In September the DNC raised over $13 million whereas the RNC brought in just over $6 million.

Rather than blaming low funds as the reason, McDaniel actually turned it around and blamed Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, for the losses: 

This has definitely rubbed Republicans the wrong way since Youngkin campaigned for months on behalf of his party’s candidates, hoping to secure a GOP trifecta. Despite breaking fundraising records with his PAC, they were still outspent by Democrats. 

The DNC poured money into the races, spending $1.5 million at the directive of Joe Biden. This allowed Democrats to narrowly flip the House of Delegates and hold the Virginia Senate.  

While the RNC spent money in Kentucky and Mississippi’s gubernatorial races this cycle, it did not lend its support to Virginia which lost its races by such a narrow margin that the extra funds could have made all the difference. 

Contrary to what McDaniels has said, Youngkin’s team stressed its financial needs saying: 

“But when we are being significantly outspent in the Washington, D.C. media market our message got drowned out. Our candidates needed every resource available and, as the Governor said many times, we couldn’t afford to have anyone sitting on the sidelines if we were to win these close elections in a state Biden won by 10” 

According to a source close to the situation, the state House Speaker Todd Gilbert and state Party chair Rich Anderson asked the RNC for more funding in early October ahead of Tuesday’s election, but the committee told them it didn’t have the resources

This loss and McDaniel’s apparent role in it have led former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, to ask conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley what he would say to Trump about McDaniel.

While some are calling on Trump to save the RNC and ask McDaniel to resign, the Chairwoman herself has not stayed quiet.  

Most of her anger has been focused on Vivek saying he’s at 4% in the polls and needs a headline. However she also took the opportunity to say that this infighting is not good for the party. 

She’s also accused him of voting for Obama, which Vivek has said is a lie illustrating the level of corruption within the party. 

Clearly, none of this very public fighting is good for the party. But one thing that should not be overlooked in the fallout from the Virginia race and McDaniel’s response to it, is the issue of abortion. Many strategists have pointed out the role that abortion played in the Virginia race and McDaniels herself has also spoken about the issue as well.  

Candidates were grilled about the issue during the GOP presidential debate which highlighted there are a number of differences between where the candidates stand on the issue, something that McDaniels was also asked about. 

McDaniel’s comments on abortion illustrate an important struggle within the Republican party now that Roe vs. Wade has been overturned. As long as the candidates’ stances are not clearly defined, Democrats will continue to attack them – painting their views as extremist. 

For many Republicans, abortion is a deeply moral issue and suggestions to compromise on the issue could be seen as a betrayal of conservative values. 

McDaniel emphasized that she has advocated for candidates to keep suburban women in mind when discussing abortion policy stating that, “It’s up to the candidates if they take those suggestions. I always say, you know, if I give my husband directions in the car it doesn’t mean he’s going to take them.” 

It remains to be seen how the RNC and Republican candidates handle the issue of abortion as they continue to face off against Democrats, however McDaniel is facing increasing scrutiny for her tenure as RNC chair. 

Her inaction in Virginia, poor fundraising so far this cycle, and frivolous spending have  led many to call for her resignation. Considering the number of failures over her four terms as RNC chair, it’s clear that support for McDaniels is fading. If Trump also joins the outcry against her, McDaniels will have no friends left in the party. 

As others have pointed out, now may be the time to bring in fresh leadership. The RNC needs a leader who can deliver on their promises and secure victories in future elections. But whichever way the wind turns on this issue, the outcome will undoubtedly shape the direction of the Republican Party moving forward.