1. Ronna Romney McDaniel is an American political strategist who served as chair of the Republican National Committee from 2017 until her resignation in 2024.
43 Facts About Ronna McDaniel
1. 2.
Ronna McDaniel is known for her prolific fundraising and staunch support for former President Donald Trump while RNC chair.
3.
Ronna McDaniel directed the RNC to help organize fake electors for Trump at the request of Trump and John Eastman.
4.
In 2022, Ronna McDaniel orchestrated a censure of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, two Republicans who were on the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
5.
On February 26,2024, Ronna McDaniel announced her resignation as RNC chair on advice from Donald Trump following his victory in the 2024 South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
6.
Ronna McDaniel served as an NBC News on-air political contributor for less than a week in March 2024.
7.
The third of five children born to Ronna Stern Romney and Scott Romney, the older brother of Mitt Romney, McDaniel is a granddaughter of three-term Michigan Governor George W Romney.
8.
Ronna McDaniel's mother ran for the US Senate in 1996 against Carl Levin, served on the Republican National Committee, and was a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention.
9.
Ronna McDaniel has said her career in politics was inspired by her family.
10.
Ronna McDaniel attended Lahser High School in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, and earned an undergraduate degree in English from Brigham Young University.
11.
Ronna McDaniel worked for the production company Mills James as a business manager and as a manager at the staffing firm Ajilon.
12.
Ronna McDaniel worked in Michigan for her uncle Mitt's 2012 campaign for President of the United States.
13.
Ronna McDaniel was elected Michigan's representative to the Republican National Committee in 2014.
14.
In 2015, Ronna McDaniel ran to be chair of the Michigan Republican Party, receiving support from both the party establishment and Tea Party activists.
15.
Ronna McDaniel succeeded Bobby Schostak as chair and stepped down from her position at the RNC.
16.
Ronna McDaniel had activist Wendy Day removed from her party position as grassroots vice-chair due to her refusal to support Trump.
17.
On February 6,2024, The New York Times reported that Ronna McDaniel intends to resign after the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, following dissatisfaction from Trump, who has publicly supported North Carolina Republican Party chair Michael Whatley.
18.
On December 14,2016, Ronna McDaniel was chosen by then president-elect Trump as his recommendation to replace Priebus.
19.
Ronna McDaniel served as deputy chair before her formal election.
20.
Ronna McDaniel was officially elected as RNC chair on January 19,2017, by unanimous vote, becoming the second woman in RNC history to hold the post.
21.
Ronna McDaniel denies that Trump pressured her to change the name.
22.
Ronna McDaniel was re-elected as RNC chair in unanimous elections in both 2019 and 2021, with the endorsement of Trump in both elections.
23.
On January 27,2023, Ronna McDaniel was re-elected to stand as the Chair for the RNC going into the 2024 US presidential election, fending off challenges from Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell and winning a fourth term.
24.
Ronna McDaniel was the longest-serving RNC chair since the Civil War.
25.
In 2018, Ronna McDaniel spent up to six hours daily calling donors.
26.
In 2021, Ronna McDaniel issued a statement supporting and celebrating LGBT Pride Month, but she did not issue a similar statement in 2022 and 2023 following backlash from social conservatives.
27.
Ronna McDaniel had announced the creation of the RNC Pride Coalition in coordination with the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of LGBTQ Republicans.
28.
Ronna McDaniel said that the initiative was not advocating for any policy issue or change to the platform.
29.
Ronna McDaniel faced calls to resign from some state-level Republican leadership.
30.
The day after Republican congressman Mark Sanford, known for his criticism of Trump, lost his primary against a pro-Trump candidate, Ronna McDaniel tweeted that those who do not embrace Trump's agenda "will be making a mistake".
31.
Politico reported that after Trump endorsed Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore just days before the special Alabama Senate election, the White House influenced Ronna McDaniel to resume RNC funding for Moore, who lost in a narrow election to Democrat Doug Jones in December 2017.
32.
Ronna McDaniel was reportedly shocked by Trump's decision to endorse Moore but felt that she had little choice but to follow the president's wishes.
33.
In March 2019, Ronna McDaniel stated she would not support "the nicest, most moral person in the world" to be president if they were not "aligned with [her] politics".
34.
In May 2019, when House Representative Justin Amash became the first Republican member of Congress to call for Trump's impeachment, citing the evidence of obstruction of justice in the Mueller Report, Ronna McDaniel criticized Amash, saying he was "parroting the Democrats' talking points on Russia".
35.
In September 2020, following the release of audio recordings from February 2020 where President Trump said he was intentionally downplaying the coronavirus, Ronna McDaniel defended Trump's handling of the coronavirus.
36.
Ronna McDaniel accused Democrats of trying to "destroy" and "assault" the integrity of elections.
37.
In June 2020, Ronna McDaniel shared a RNC video warning about voter fraud in the upcoming 2020 election due to expansions of vote-by-mail related to the coronavirus pandemic.
38.
In 2022, Ronna McDaniel led efforts within the RNC to censure Republican members of Congress Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who had voted to impeach Trump over his incitement of a pro-Trump mob in the US Capitol attack and served on a bipartisan committee to investigate the attack.
39.
The censure that Ronna McDaniel orchestrated characterized the US Capitol attack as "legitimate political discourse".
40.
Ronna McDaniel said that Wynn should be allowed "due process" and that his donations would be returned only after the allegations were investigated by the Wynn Resorts board of directors.
41.
In September 2019, Ronna McDaniel emailed Doug Manchester, whose nomination to become Ambassador to the Bahamas was stalled in the Senate, asking for $500,000 in donations to the Republican Party.
42.
Ronna McDaniel said Comey was a liar and a leaker, and said that the RNC would "make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility".
43.
Politico reported in November 2018 that Ronna McDaniel called on the Republican candidate Martha McSally to be more aggressive during the ballot counting process in the Arizona Senate race.