Ronna McDaniel has\u00a0become the longest serving leader\u00a0of the Republican National Committee since the Civil War. But now, she must confront a modern-day civil war within the GOP.
\nFrustrated Republicans from state capitals to Capitol Hill to the luxury Southern California hotel where RNC members gathered this week are at odds over how to reverse six years of election disappointments. And while there are many strong feelings, there is no consensus even among the fighting factions about the people, policies or political tactics they should embrace.
\nOn one side: a growing number of elected officials eager to move beyond the divisive politics and personality of former President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0despite having no clear alternative. And on the other: the GOP\u2019s vocal \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d wing, which has no cohesive agenda yet is quick to attack the status quo in both parties.
\n\u201cIt will be extraordinarily difficult, if not near impossible, for Ronna McDaniel to put the pieces back together,\u201d said Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren, a leading voice in the coalition of far-right activists, conservative media leaders and local elected officials across the country who fought and failed to defeat McDaniel. \u201cThese people are not just going to forget.\u201d
\nIndeed, as RNC members packed up from the Waldorf Astoria ballroom Friday, there was broad agreement that McDaniel\u2019s reelection alone would do little to heal the gaping divide that plagues their party, even as she celebrated a notably decisive reelection victory.
\nTrump quickly congratulated McDaniel on his social media platform after privately helping her campaign. But conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a Trump loyalist, likened McDaniel\u2019s successful reelection to a \u201cmiddle finger\u201d for the GOP\u2019s grassroots who demanded change at the institution that leads the party\u2019s political activities.
\n\u201cThe country club won today,\u201d Kirk said from the back of the Waldorf Astoria ballroom where RNC members from across the country voted to give McDaniel another two-year term. \u201cSo, the grassroots of people that can\u2019t afford to buy a steak and are struggling to make ends meet, they just got told by their representatives at an opulent $900-a-night hotel that, \u2018We hate you.\u2019\u201d
\nA similar sentiment roiled the Republican Party earlier in the month on Capitol Hill as\u00a0Kevin McCarthy\u00a0struggled through days of embarrassing defeats in his quest to become House speaker before acquiescing to the demands of the anti-establishment MAGA fringe.
\nMcCarthy\u2019s inability to control the hardline Trump loyalists in his conference now threatens to undermine a high-stakes vote on the nation\u2019s debt limit that could send shockwaves through the U.S. economy if not resolved soon. So far, House Republicans haven\u2019t articulated a specific set of demands.
\nSome see the Republican divide as a byproduct of the GOP\u2019s years-long embrace of Trumpism, a political ideology defined by its relentless focus on a common enemy and a willingness to fight that perceived foe no matter the cost.
\nMcDaniel has repeatedly highlighted the perils of GOP infighting as she campaigned for an unprecedented fourth term as RNC chair. On Friday, she pleaded for Republican unity while citing a Bible verse once used by former President Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War.
\n\u201cEvery kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand,\u2019\u201d McDaniel said from the ballroom podium. \u201cNothing we do is more important than making sure that Joe Biden is a one-term president. But in order to do that, we have to be unified.\u201d
\nIt may get worse before it gets better.
\nThe conclusion of the RNC\u2019s winter meeting marks the unofficial beginning of the 2024 presidential primary season. Trump has already launched his candidacy and promises to wage a fierce campaign against any would-be Republican competitors.
\nThe RNC is in the process of scheduling the first Republican presidential primary debates, which will likely take place in Milwaukee, the site of the party\u2019s next national convention, in late July or early August.
\nWhile he has been slow to hit the campaign trail since announcing a 2024 bid last November, Trump has events in New Hampshire and South Carolina this weekend. Sensing political weakness in the former president, as many as a dozen high-profile Republicans are expected to line up against him in the coming months.
\nShould he fail to clinch the GOP\u2019s next presidential nomination, Trump has already dangled the possibility of a third-party presidential bid, which would all but ensure Democrats win the White House again in 2024.
\nNew Hampshire-based RNC member Juliana Bergeron reflected upon the state of her party as she prepared to take a red-eye flight back home to attend Trump\u2019s Saturday appearance. The New Hampshire GOP is working through its own bitter leadership feud.
\n\u201cThe party in New Hampshire is divided. The party nationally is divided. I just think there\u2019s a lot of space between the far right and some of the rest of us,\u201d Bergeron said.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s over,\u201d she said when asked about Trump. \u201cI want to see a new generation out there.\u201d
\nAnd there are some signs that Trump\u2019s MAGA movement may be ready to move on as well. Some privately acknowledged that Trump had lost control of his own movement, which worked to defeat McDaniel even as the former president and his lieutenants tried to help her.
\nWhile Trump declined to publicly endorse McDaniel, Wren said it wouldn\u2019t have changed the grassroots\u2019 demand for new GOP leadership even if he had.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not just sheep that follow a single endorsement anywhere,\u201d Wren said. \u201cWe want to win elections and we\u2019re not winning elections.\u201d
\nIndeed, Republicans may need a successful national election to come together again. The next national election? Nov. 5, 2024.
\n\u201cThe hard work now begins for bringing our party together,\u201d said former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus, a former RNC chair who backed McDaniel\u2019s reelection. \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n