Ronna McDaniel calls for Republicans not to be ‘so vicious and vitriolic’ after heated RNC chair reelection battle and calls for GOP to turn focus on the ‘big picture’ of defeating Democrats
- RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Republicans need to focus on defeating Joe Biden
- Called for Republicans to stop attacking each other in 2024 race
- She also insisted Donald Trump would sign a pledge to support whoever becomes the candidate
Ronna McDaniel is calling on Republicans to stop attacking each other and instead focus efforts on beating President Joe Biden in 2024.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman also insisted that Donald Trump would sign a pledge to support whoever becomes the GOP nominee for president in 2024. Those who do not sign the pledge will not be able to participate in debates held by the RNC.
‘I think they’re all going to sign it,’ McDaniel told CNN‘s State of the Union host Dana Bash on Sunday morning.
She also said that everyone signed the pledge in the 2016 election.
McDaniel recently won her reelection bid for RNC chairwoman, but the election got heated and resulted in a series of damning attacks on her record.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Republicans need to focus on defeating Joe Biden and not attacking each other in 2024
‘I ran on a unity platform and about bringing the party together,’ McDaniel said. ‘And we can’t be so vicious and vitriolic with each other that we don’t want to support each other in the end. And I chose to run that way. It won.’
She said her reelection was a ‘symbol’ that the Republican Party is dedicated to unity.
‘We can’t be attacking each other so much that we lose sight of, we have to beat the Democrats,’ McDaniel insisted.
‘We have to beat Joe Biden in 2024. And we may have divisive primaries and differences of opinions, but, in the end, we have to settle those to win the big picture, which is governing our country and doing the right thing by the American people.’
The GOP has denounced the Commission on Presidential Debates, claiming it is a partisan group not committed to treating candidates fairly – especially those on the Republican side.
Rather, the party will hold its own debates, but is making candidates who want to participate sign a pledge that they will fully endorse and back the eventual Republican nominee for president.
McDaniel called the potential proposal a ‘no-brainer.’
Some shared doubts, however, that Trump would agree to do this should he not earn the nomination.
‘If you’re going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage asking voters to support you, you should say, ‘I’m going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee,’ she said.
‘As RNC chair, if I said I wouldn’t support the Republican nominee, I would be removed from office. I would. I’d be rightly removed,’ she added. ‘It’d be part of our bylaws, and I would be kicked out as RNC chair.’
‘Anybody getting on the Republican National Committee debate stage should be able to say, ‘I will support the will of the voters and the eventual nominee of our party.’
When asked if she thinks Trump would sign the pledge, McDaniel said: ‘Well, he signed it in 2016. Everybody signed it in 2016.’
‘But this is about the here and the now. He didn’t commit to it,’ Bash pushed.
‘Yes, I think they’re all going to sign it. I really do,’ she speculated.
‘I think the voters are very intent on winning,’ McDaniel added. ‘And they do not want to see a debate stage of people saying, ‘I’m not going to support this guy.’ What they need to say is, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Joe Biden.’ And that means supporting the nominee of the Republican Party.’
