RNC's McDaniel Leaving After Super Tuesday

Ronna McDaniel—having lost the crucial support of Donald Trump—announced her departure date on Monday as leader of the Republican National Committee. McDaniel will step down as head of the organization on March 8, a few days after Super Tuesday voting, reports ABC News.

• The RNC "has historically undergone change once we have a nominee, and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition," said McDaniel, who called it the "honor of a lifetime" to have led the group since 2017. However, the New York Times notes it's been "many years" since a party chair left during an election year.
• McDaniel, the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney, "was well-liked among the 168 members but drew extensive criticism from agitators on the right, who attacked her for insufficient fundraising and claimed that she was not loyal to Trump," per the Washington Post. Critics also faulted her for the party's disappointing results in the 2022 midterms.

• Trump wants Michael Whatley, chair of the GOP in North Carolina, to replace McDaniel as chair, and he wants daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair. As a result, they are both seen as shoo-ins.
• McDaniel was the first woman to lead the group, having been handpicked by Trump after he won Michigan in 2016; she had been party chair there. Her supporters point out that neither McDaniel nor the RNC have been caught up in the legal trouble related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, notes the Times.

(More Ronna McDaniel stories.)