Ronna McDaniel’s RNC exit came after ‘tension’ with Trump campaign over debates

Former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Sunday suggested that her ouster as party boss stemmed from Donald Trump’s irritation at her push for debates in the 2024 nomination process.

McDaniel stepped down as RNC chair earlier this month amid a Trump-backed leadership shakeup that saw her replaced by Michael Whatley, while Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita became COO and Lara Trump ascended to party co-chair.

“There’s no question that as RNC chair you have to remain neutral and we had a primary process. So we did have debates,” McDaniel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “There was tension and a little friction that started during that process.”

Trump, now the presumptive nominee who is also facing a slew of federal felony charges, skipped all of the 2024 GOP debates.

“I knew at that point when I was doing that role, and we were going to have debates that when the nominee came forward and it was likely to be President Trump that they would want to switch,” McDaniel added.

She defended the move by juxtaposing the GOP with Democrats who eschewed debates and now have to contend with environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running as an Independent.

McDaniel recently inked a contributor deal with NBC, prompting a wave of backlash at the company, particularly at sister network MSNBC. Moderator Kristen Welker grilled her on Sunday against that backdrop.

Trump, 77, met with McDaniel before endorsing a replacement. He had initially backed her to take over the party apparatus after he won the presidency in 2016.

Critics of McDaniel pointed to the GOP’s poor electoral record under her tenure and the anemic fundraising numbers posted over recent months.

Last year — adjusted for inflation — the RNC weathered its worst fundraising year in three decades, raking in just $87.2 million and concluding the year with $8 million cash on hand, per the Federal Election Commission.

By contrast, the DNC reaped $119 million and finished off the year with around $21 million cash on hand, according to the FEC.

“We don’t pick the candidates, we’re turnout,” McDaniel said about the GOP’s electoral performance under her watch. “What I say to people is we’re building the road that all the candidates drive on … the road wasn’t the problem. It’s candidate to candidate.”

“So I view my tenure as RNC chair as a success.”

No longer bound by the obligations of being the party boss, McDaniel spoke more candidly about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and seemingly pushed back on Trump’s characterizations of those arrested as “hostages.”

“I want to be very clear, the violence that happened on January 6 is unacceptable. It doesn’t represent our country,” she said. “If you attacked our Capitol and … you’ve been convicted, then that should stay.”

When asked why she wasn’t more vocal against Trump’s rhetoric revolving around the Capitol riot earlier, McDaniel underscored that she’s no longer the RNC chair.

“Now, when you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team. Now I get to be a little bit more myself. This is what I believe. I don’t think violence should be in our political discourse,” McDaniel said.

She later affirmed that “the reality is Joe Biden won, he’s the president,” while maintaining “I continue to say there were issues in 2020,” with respect to the way the election was carried out in certain states.

Later on in the contentious interview, McDaniel rebuffed suggestions that she couldn’t be trusted to believe what she said.

“I don’t think I’m changing my tone at all,” McDaniel replied when asked about whether she was changing her tone about President Biden being “legitimately elected.”

McDaniel also defended a call she participated with to two Republican members of the Wayne County Board, in which she appeared to nudge them not to certify the 2020 election results, according to audio.

“They voted no. They didn’t vote not to certify. They said, ‘You know, we want an audit.’ There were some problems in Wayne County,” McDaniel argued. “They said, ‘As canvassers, we think we should have an audit before we certify.’”

She countered that those officials were “called such vicious names, such vile names” and endured threats that they later changed their votes and were “left shaken.”

“Nobody should be threatened or bullied or pushed to change a vote and that’s what happened to them,” McDaniel, who lives in Wayne County and previously served as the GOP’s Michigan chair, said.

The former RNC head also weighed in on the use of RNC funds to foot Trump’s legal bills. Technically, the RNC will take donor money and funnel it to Trump’s Save America PAC, which has already spent tens of millions of dollars covering his legal expenses.

“As long as the donors know that that’s what they’re doing,” McDaniel said. “I think he’s being very open that they’re helping with his legal bills.”

Under her watch, the RNC helped Trump pay some of his legal bills, but that ended when he launched his 2024 bid in November 2022.