Right-wing media figures turn on RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

Conservative activists and pundits are calling on the head of the Republican National Committee to resign following the party’s poor midterm performance

Right-wing media personalities are calling on Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel to resign following the party’s poor performance in the midterms last week.

McDaniel announced on Monday that she would seek another term as head of the RNC even as criticism was mounting from her party’s activist base, and failed New York GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin’s camp spoke to the press to boost him as a possible successor to McDaniel. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who was just reelected, has also reportedly been “fielding calls” about the job. In the run-up to the midterms, McDaniel repeatedly appeared on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast to reinforce bogus conspiracy theories about voter fraud and to recruit poll watchers and workers. She’s now facing criticism from the right for the RNC’s distribution of time, money, and other resources in what many in her party hoped would be a “red wave” election. 

Here are some of the examples of the critiques being leveled against her:

  • Conservative filmmaker and election denier Dinesh D’Souza tweeted support for Zeldin to run the RNC, writing, “Almost anyone would be better than Ronna McDaniel!”
  • “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander called for Ronna McDaniel to resign on his Telegram channel, attacking her “poor management and cycle-to-cycle gimmicks” and placing the blame for the Republican losses on “the failures of the national GOP committees.”
  • On Infowars, host Owen Shroyer said “the system” for elections is now to “just count votes until the Democrat wins” and blamed “the Republican leadership of the McLosers — McConnell, McCarthy, and McDaniel — the McLose team, they’re more focused on getting rid of Donald Trump.”
  • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said, “I don’t think Ronna McDaniel is going to be running the RNC for a fourth term” because “after Tuesday’s results, I think people are scratching their heads looking for fresh faces.”
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Citation From the November 10, 2022 edition of The Jenna Ellis Show

  • Jenna Ellis, former Trump lawyer and senior adviser to failed Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, called House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and McDaniel the “McMorons.”
  • Newsmax host and podcaster Benny Johnson said that McDaniel “needs to go.” “As a conservative, you must be for a meritocracy — that is an absolute prerequisite to our worldview,” declared Johnson, a serial plagiarist. “Hard work, and your record, is what matters.”
  • Right-wing Twitter personality John Cardillo wrote McDaniel “has to go” because “she raises money to make her establishment cuck consultant friends rich” and is “running a big grift.”
  • Tim Young, a right-wing “comedian” and “media/culture critic” for the conspiracy theory blog American Greatness, wrote, “All Ronna Romney McDaniel has done as the head of the @RNC is lose, make lots of money and start at podcast.”
  • Right-wing Twitter account “thebradfordfile” had a viral tweet that said, “Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Ronna McDaniel should have already resigned.” In another tweet, the account boosted Zeldin.
  • Claremont Institute fellow David Reaboi mocked Donald Trump for not labeling Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), McCarthy, and McDaniel a “phony” or “Establishment RINO,” noting “Trump has repeatedly endorsed” each one and writing, “‘Draining the Swamp’ is going so well!” 
  • Right-wing pundit Ryan James Girdusky tweeted, “Is Ronna McDaniel in witness protection right now?”
  • Failed QAnon-linked congressional candidate and frequent guest on Bannon’s War Room Anthony Sabatini wrote, “Ronna McDaniel must be fired.”