[UPDATE] RNC Chair Controversy: Donald Trump Recommends Michael Whatley To Replace Ronna McDaniel

Former United States President Donald Trump recommended North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley to Replace Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel.

The endorsement comes as there have been reports that highlighted the change in leadership of the RNC after the South Carolina primary scheduled on Feb. 24, 2024. A source familiar with the matter said that the Republican businessman is pushing for Whatley due to him being "so powerful on election fraud" in 2020.

Trump Recommends Whatley as New RNC Chair

(Photo : David Becker/Getty Images)
Former United States President Donald Trump recommended North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley to replace Ronna McDaniel as the chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

The recommendation comes as Whatley has served as the North Carolina GOP chair since 2019 and also serves as the general counsel for the RNC. In the 2020 election, Trump won North Carolina and the source noted that Whatley "kept the fraud down" in the state despite having a "strong Democrat governor."

They also emphasized that the former president is focused on ensuring that the votes in the 2024 general election are "safe." They added that Trump is going around saying that they do not need the votes because they have plenty, as per Fox News.

Before his work with the Republican Party, Whatley served as a federal law clerk, a senior official in the President George W. Bush administration, and as the chief of staff for former Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

He also served as a senior advisor to the Bush-Cheney campaign, Florida Recount, and Transition Teams, as well as the Trump-Pence campaign and transition teams. Trump met with McDaniel earlier this week at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

After their meeting, the former president posted on his Truth Social that the RNC chair was a "friend" but argued that he would be urging changes at the committee after the South Carolina Republican primary.

In his post, Trump said that he would be making a decision the day after the South Carolina primary as to his recommendations for RNC growth. During an interview that was aired on Sunday, the former president said that McDaniel did great when she ran Michigan for him, according to Yahoo News.

RNC's Strained Finances

The Republican businessman cited the RNC chair's previous tenure as chair of the Michigan GOP. When McDaniel won re-election last year, she said in an interview that it would be her last two-year term steering the national party committee.

If she does resign, her replacement would need to get the approval of the 168 RNC committee members. One member who asked to remain anonymous said that if Trump continues to win primaries, the majority of the members will follow his lead whether he picks Whatley or someone else.

The situation comes as McDaniel has faced mourning pressure for several months, a campaign from Trump-allied forces to unseat her as the RNC chair. This is because there has been growing dissatisfaction and anxiety on the former president's side about the strained finances of the RNC as the general election cycle begins early.

Whatley previously claimed without any evidence that election security efforts from Republicans in North Carolina stopped Democrats from cheating. He has also recently endorsed efforts to develop new voting laws, said the New York Times.