McDaniel Out, Trump-Picked Election Denier To Take Her Place

I said last night, February 5, 2024, that the GOP passed away. I stand by that statement and regard today’s news stories, the ludicrous debacle in the House of Representatives attempting to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas and now this, the departure of Ronna McDaniel, as post-mortem events. Mitch McConnell basically is the mortician for the funeral of his party. He saw the handwriting on the wall last night, gave up due to “political mood” and we still don’t know how we’re going to help our allies or even prevent the next government shutdown drama. I repeat, the GOP is dead, and this story and many more to come are merely going to reveal the truth of that statement.

Ronna Romney McDaniel, who dumped the “Romney” part when her lord and master Donald Trump told her to do so, has announced her resignation. She will step down after February 24, the date of the GOP primary. And who will replace her? Why, a MAGA sycophant, the election denying Michael Whatley, of the North Carolina GOP. North Carolina has some real beauts and Whatley can compare to the worst of them. New York Times:

Under the arcana of the committee’s rules, however, Mr. Trump cannot simply install someone. A new election must take place, and Mr. Whatley could face internal party dissent.

Ms. McDaniel has faced months of pressure, a campaign from Trump-allied forces to unseat her and growing dissatisfaction and anxiety in the Trump camp about the strained finances of the R.N.C. as the general election cycle begins early.

Mr. Trump likes Mr. Whatley for one overwhelming reason, according to people who have discussed him with the former president: He is “a stop the steal guy,” as one of the people described him. He endorses Mr. Trump’s false claims about mass voter fraud and Mr. Trump believes he did a good job delivering North Carolina, a 2020 swing state, to him.

Mr. Whatley has baselessly claimed that election security efforts from Republicans in North Carolina stopped Democrats from cheating. He is also currently the general counsel at the Republican National Committee and has endorsed efforts to develop new voting laws.

At least McDaniel was a recognizable Republican type, a member of a GOP dynasty family who had a nice sinecure running the Republican National Committee. But that was pre-Trump. The needs of the RNC and the needs of MAGA in the era of Trump, are something else altogether. The RNC has been failing in fundraising, a situation which Trump has blamed upon McDaniel. While I’m no defender of McDaniel, I don’t think the fault is hers, I believe it to be Trump’s fault. He’s not only polluted the 2024 presidential election but he is adversely affecting the down ballot as well.

The R.N.C. is especially focused on turnout efforts and fund-raising. Mr. Trump has twice before had a campaign that worked with the committee. The first was a forced partnership after he became the surprise nominee in 2016 and the second was during the 2020 race when his team allocated key functions to the R.N.C. This time, the Trump team is expected to try to essentially take over the committee in a way that it never did before.

Ms. McDaniel’s abilities in raising money have undoubtedly been complicated by Mr. Trump’s own behavior, both while he was president and since he left office. Many major donors recoiled at the former president’s efforts to thwart the transfer of power after the 2020 election and at his various legal travails since departing office.

And are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Look who else might end up in RNC leadership.

Charlie Kirk, the founder of the influential group Turning Point USA, who has lobbied publicly to remove Ms. McDaniel, suggested last week in an interview that some Trump family members — including Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law — could be potential picks for party leadership posts.

Oh, and by the way, the chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, Mike Reed, is also leaving. He announced that today and ostensibly it’s a coincidence that his departure coincides with McDaniel’s. He had reportedly accepted a new position in the private sector months ago. Then why wait until today to announce? Who knows?

In all events, the GOP is dead and I would say “long leave the GOP” except we truly do not know who or what is going to rise in its stead. If the RNC becomes MAGAfied, as it is expected to do, that throws yet another wrench into the works.

So here is the state of play in 2024, friends: 1. We have one functioning political party; 2. the GOP is dead; 3. MAGA and Trump, having killed the GOP, are now out to take over America, kill democracy, and install Mango Mussolini as our fascist leader for life.