Ronna McDaniel Urges Unity to Reelect Trump In Last Speech as RNC Chair

Ronna McDaniel, the outgoing Republican National Committee chairwoman, gives her last speech in the position at the general session of the RNC Spring Meeting in Houston, Texas, on March 8, 2024. Michael Wyke/AP Photo

Ronna McDaniel, the outgoing chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), gave an impassioned speech on March 8 moments before her resignation was formally accepted, in which she called for unity around former President Donald Trump and his second-term agenda for America.

“I’m stepping aside today because I have long promised to put the nominee and their plans for the RNC first. Winning the White House back is just too important for me to do otherwise,” Ms. McDaniel said in her last speech as RNC chair, at the general session of the RNC Spring Meeting in Houston, Texas.

Calling President Joe Biden a “disaster” for America, Ms. McDaniel said it’s time for Republicans to rally around President Trump and his priorities, which she said include reversing President Biden’s “open borders” policies, getting tough on crime, and tackling inflation.

She said she’s stepping down because President Trump, who in mid-February called for a shakeup in the RNC’s leadership, “deserves to have the team he wants in place” at the helm of the organization.

Leadership Shakeup

Days earlier, President Trump dominated the Republican primaries held on Super Tuesday, which this year fell on March 5. The former president won 14 of the 15 Republican contests that day and is poised to claim the vast majority of the 865 convention delegates available across the races.

A day later, President Trump’s sole remaining GOP rival, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race and the RNC declared the former president its “presumptive” nominee in the 2024 presidential contest. Formally, he needs 1,215 delegates for nomination.

As President Trump’s Super Tuesday victory cemented his role as the presumptive nominee, the RNC leadership shakeup crystallized. In mid-February, the former president called for a change in RNC leadership, endorsing Michael Whatley to helm the organization and recommending his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, for the role of co-chair.

“The RNC MUST be a good partner in the presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national party and do it flawlessly,” President Trump said in a statement at the time.

And so on March 8, the RNC elected Mr. Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, to take Ms. McDaniel’s place as chair, with Lara Trump elected to serve as the RNC co-chair.

“President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC,” Ms. McDaniel said in her final speech. “When I made the decision to step aside, there was no one else I supported to be the next chair more than Michael Whatley.”

Ms. McDaniel said she believes Mr. Whatley will be “phenomenal” in the role and on an issue President Trump “cares deeply about, which is election integrity.”

“I am rooting so hard for Michael and Lara’s success,” she continued. “And I offer all the help and guidance I can to help ensure that you do succeed in your roles.”

‘One Final Request’

President Trump said in mid-February that he’s confident in Mr. Whatley’s ability to lead the party effectively.

He called Mr. Whatley, who also served as general counsel for the North Carolina GOP in addition to being its chairman, a friend and a trusted advocate for election integrity.

Michael has been with me from the beginning, has done a great job in his home state of North Carolina, and is committed to election integrity, which we must have to keep fraud out of our election so it can’t be stolen,” President Trump said in the Feb. 12 statement.

For his part, Mr. Whatley appeared to hit the ground running, saying in a March 8 statement that he looks forward to taking up the mantle.

“We are already well on our way to making Joe Biden a one-term President, and I look forward to working alongside each and every Republican across the country to deliver Republican victories up and down the ballot,” Mr. Whatley said.

In her final speech as RNC chair, Ms. McDaniel thanked Mr. Whatley for “stepping up” to do the job, before saying she had “just one final request”—namely unity around the former president.

“Join me in putting our country first,” she said, adding that ordinary Americans she hears from are hurting due to rampant inflation and crime, and they’re fed up with record-levels of illegal immigration and deadly drugs pouring in across the border.

“They are struggling. They can’t afford groceries. They can’t afford rent. They are seeing crime rise in their streets. They are seeing fentanyl come across our border. They’re afraid about our open border,” she said, while calling President Biden and “all the Democrats” a “disaster for the American people.”

Her final request, she said, is a call for unity.

“So I’m going to ask you to join me in uniting for the next eight months and committing everything you have to make sure that we keep the House, we win the Senate and we take back the White House and send President Trump there,” she said.

“God bless you and God bless the United States of America,” she said, concluding her speech to applause.

Ms. McDaniel, a niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), was the longest-serving leader of the Republican Party since the Civil War.