Ronna McDaniel is an American politician and political strategist serving as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee since 2017.
36 Facts About Ronna McDaniel
2.
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.
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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.
4.
Ronna McDaniel has said her career in politics was inspired by her family.
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Ronna McDaniel attended Lahser High School in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, and earned an undergraduate degree in English from Brigham Young University.
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Ronna McDaniel worked for the production company Mills James as a business manager and as a manager at the staffing firm Ajilon.
7.
Ronna McDaniel worked in Michigan for her uncle Mitt's 2012 campaign for President of the United States.
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Ronna McDaniel was elected Michigan's representative to the Republican National Committee in 2014.
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In 2015, Ronna McDaniel ran to be chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, receiving support from both the party establishment and Tea Party activists.
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Ronna McDaniel succeeded Bobby Schostak as chairwoman and stepped down from her position at the RNC.
11.
Ronna McDaniel had activist Wendy Day removed from her party position as grassroots vice-chairwoman due to her refusal to support Trump.
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On December 14,2016, Ronna McDaniel was chosen by then president-elect Trump as his recommendation to replace Priebus.
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Ronna McDaniel served as deputy chairwoman before her formal election.
14.
Ronna McDaniel was officially elected as RNC chairwoman on January 19,2017 by unanimous vote, becoming the second woman in RNC history to hold the post.
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Ronna McDaniel denies that Trump pressured her to change the name.
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Ronna McDaniel was re-elected as RNC chairwoman in unanimous elections in both 2019 and 2021, with the endorsement of Trump in both elections.
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On January 27,2023, Ronna McDaniel was re-elected to stand as the Chairwoman for the RNC going into the 2024 US presidential election, fending off challenges from Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell and winning a fourth term.
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Ronna McDaniel is the longest-served RNC chairwoman since the Civil War.
19.
In 2018, Ronna McDaniel spent up to six hours daily calling donors.
20.
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".
21.
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.
22.
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.
23.
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".
24.
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".
25.
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.
26.
Ronna McDaniel accused Democrats of trying to "destroy" and "assault" the integrity of elections.
27.
In June 2020, Ronna McDaniel shared a RNC video warning about extensive voter fraud in the upcoming 2020 election due to expansions of vote-by-mail related to the coronavirus pandemic.
28.
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.
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The censure that Ronna McDaniel orchestrated characterized the US Capitol attack as "legitimate political discourse".
30.
Ronna McDaniel said that Wynn should be allowed "due process" and that his donations would only be returned after the allegations were investigated by the Wynn Resorts board of directors.
31.
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.
32.
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".
33.
In late July 2018, Ronna McDaniel falsely claimed that Twitter was shadow banning Republicans, including herself.
34.
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.
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On October 18,2020, Ronna McDaniel refused to condemn QAnon on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
36.
On October 27,2022, Ronna McDaniel openly mocked prominent Democratic politicians such as then-Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and US Senate candidate John Fetterman and President Joe Biden for suffering speech impediments.