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- President Trump’s approval on Wednesday of Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee represents another big test of his post-2020 power within the GOP.
- His entry into the internal race indicates that Trump wants to maintain an iron grip on the party’s leadership structure, as well as the valuable election data he collects for GOP candidates and his influence with powerful donors.
- But party pillars interviewed by Insider said Trump’s approval was inconvenient given that he will soon be out of the White House and one of many possible suitors in a wide open field for the 2024 presidential nomination. .
- “It’s a bit worrying that the RNC is controlled by a candidate,” said a Republican close to the president.
- Kimberly Guilfoyle, Corey Lewandowski and Reince Priebus are other names that have been put forward as potential candidates for the RNC chair.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump is trying to use his diminishing power to influence an upcoming important Republican National Committee vote that will help determine whether the GOP remains firmly under his control or splits into many different chunks during the Joe Biden era .
Trump surprised party pillars on Wednesday night by endorsing outgoing RNC chairperson Ronna McDaniel before anyone could publicly state their intention to run for this powerful post at a meeting scheduled for January in Washington DC.
The president’s foray into this race is another sign that he wants to maintain an iron grip on the party’s internal leadership structure, as well as the valuable election data he collects for GOP candidates and his influence with powerful donors.
It also comes at the same time that Trump continues to publicly question the results of the 2020 election that denied him a second term. The president refused to concede the race to President-elect Biden, although he also began to speak openly with White House aides and outside advisers about his upcoming lame duck status and a potential announcement before the end. of the year to mount a 2024 Campaign to resume the presidency.
Several RNC members who spoke to Insider this week said it was too early to say whether Trump’s support for McDaniel was enough to secure his victory in a race that could also include Kimberly Guilfoyle, Corey Lewandowski and Reince Priebus .
Still, those sources said Trump’s decision to try to unilaterally appoint the party’s top leader seemed clumsy given he could soon be one of many Republicans running into an open field for the next presidential nomination. party.
“It’s a bit worrying that the RNC is controlled by a candidate,” said a Republican close to the president. “The members are amazed.”
Trump’s decision to support McDaniel as party president for another two years, taken via a Tweeter, arrived before she had even publicly declared her intention to seek employment again. A GOP source familiar with McDaniel’s thinking said she is expected to announce soon that she is running again.
But McDaniel isn’t the only one eyeing the stance, and RNC members say they have spent months bracing for a heated battle where Trump is no longer an incumbent president.
“Once lost he has no power,” said an RNC member who will likely support McDaniel’s candidacy for a third term as party leader.
A GOP power vacuum if there ever was one
The last three Republican presidential candidates withdrew after their loss to let RNC members choose their own leadership.
After former President George HW Bush was defeated to Clinton in 1992, RNC members chose Haley Barbour to lead the RNC. After then-Sen. John McCain lost to Barack Obama, RNC members debated for hours before picking Michael Steele as president. And after Mitt Romney’s loss in 2012, the RNC kept Reince Priebus to lead the party.
RNC members who spoke to Insider this week said they wanted the same power to choose their own leader. One person added that she was “mad and stunned” when she learned that Trump would try to choose his next president.
“The 168 want to come back to power,” said a former RNC official, referring to the number of US state and territory committee members who ultimately vote to determine who will lead them.
Since the end of the summer, RNC presidential candidates have questioned who would lead the party if Trump lost.
Ohio Republican Party President Jane Timken and Mississippi RNC committee Henry Barbour were put forward as potential candidates if Trump lost. If Trump had won, advisers said he could try to name Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr., Insider reported in August.
But Trump’s loss to Biden meant other candidates lined up last week and this week to find support quietly behind the scenes. Priebus, a former RNC chairman who went on to serve as Trump’s first White House chief of staff, was also calling other Republicans and testing the waters for a return to the top of the party, said three Republicans familiar with the calls for Insider.
Lewandowski and another high-level Trump adviser, David Bossie, had also been proposed as likely candidates until McDaniel was approved by Trump. Some Republicans have said the president’s decision has effectively cleared the ground for his re-election, though there is no guarantee it won’t face competition as well.
“There will likely be an anti-Trump establishment candidate who makes an attempt,” said another RNC member who supports McDaniel. “We’ll see how big a faction is.”
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