Elections

Ronna McDaniel Struggles to Hold GOP Together as Far Right Influence Grows

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The Republican National Committee is strapped for cash and under attack by the party’s far-right faction.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel delivers remarks before the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate on November 8, 2023.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel made a plea for unity ahead of the party’s impending presidential nominating primaries in key states. “We Republicans will stick together, as united as the union our party long ago fought to preserve,” McDaniel told a group of select party members during a private winter meeting, the Associated Press reported. She was speaking to leaders in Nevada, which holds its contests this week and has an electorate that heavily favors former president Donald Trump. The Trump campaign has repeatedly clashed with the RNC over its attempts to declare Trump the nominee even though his opponent Nikki Haley is still in the race. Trump’s far-right supporters, including right wing activist and media personality Charlie Kirk and his deep-pocketed youth organization Turning Point, have launched a barrage of criticism against McDaniel and the Republican establishment. But McDaniel may need the financial support that these extreme factions can provide—the RNC holds only $8 million with a debt of $1 million, pennies compared to the Biden campaign’s reported $117 million.

Read it at Associated Press