RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel brushes off donor concerns: ‘There’s nothing unusual about this’

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel downplayed donor concerns following reporting on the GOP finances, saying the situation is not unusual. 

On Monday, the Washington Post reported concerns over the national party’s finances were growing as donations to the RNC appear to drop ahead of next year’s presidential election. 

The Post noted the RNC reported having $9.1 million in the bank in October, which is significantly less than the $20 million the party reported having on hand at the same point in the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee reported having $17.7 million cash on hand in October. 

However, McDaniel argued in an interview with the publication that the numbers are not indicative of the RNC’s financial prowess, but they show donors are still focused on donating to individual presidential candidates.  

“I think there’s more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, I’ll be there. That’s what I hear more than anything. And they’re really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal,” McDaniel told the publication. “There’s nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that we’ll be working together to win the White House.”

The party also noted it has already sent staff to 15 swing states to get a head start on get-out-the-vote efforts and election monitoring. Additionally, it said it has filed more than 70 election integrity lawsuits and established a permanent Election Integrity Department. The RNC under McDaniel also launched the Bank Your Vote program to encourage Republicans to vote early and by mail. 

“The RNC will continue to communicate with all campaigns and candidates as we look forward to putting our battle-tested infrastructure behind our Presidential nominee,” an RNC spokesperson said. 

Republicans note that without transfers and when comparing the RNC’s sister committees and Democratic committees, the RNC beats the other committees in direct fundraising by $10 million, with the exception of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Additionally, the party noted that when comparing the RNC’s current fundraising to the DNC’s fundraising without an incumbent in 2020 and 2016, the RNC is either on par with the DNC or outraising it. 

McDaniel has faced some criticism for her leadership amid Republican losses in recent election cycles. McDaniel was reelected to a fourth term as chair in January after facing challenges from California attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.