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    Ronna McDaniel Steps Down As RNC Chair

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Ronna McDaniel via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    This is big…

    Following Donald Trump’s South Carolina primary win Ronna McDaniel has formally announced plans to step down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

    McDaniel shared she plans to officially step down next week amid reports Trump wants fresh leadership in the RNC before heading into the general election.

    Maggie Haberman broke the news Monday morning, writing in the New York Times:

    The decision is not a surprise. The chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, told Mr. Trump weeks ago that she planned to leave shortly after the South Carolina primary, which was held on Saturday. But she now sets in motion a new election within the party’s official body, where Mr. Trump’s preference for chair and co-chair will try to secure enough votes to take over.

    Mr. Trump has publicly backed Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and the national committee’s general counsel, to replace Ms. McDaniel. And he has said that he wants his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be the next co-chair.

    Mr. Trump’s remarks on the R.N.C. leadership came in the run-up to the South Carolina primary on Saturday, and in anticipation of his tightening his grip on the party. He ended up defeating his main rival, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, by more than 20 points in her home state.

    Mediaite obtained a statement from the RNC, which reads:

    “It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve the Republican National Committee for seven years as Chairwoman to elect Republicans and grow our Party. Some of my proudest accomplishments include firing Nancy Pelosi, winning the popular vote in 2022, creating an Election Integrity Department, building the committee’s first small dollar grassroots donor program, strengthening our state parties through our Growing Republican Organizations to Win program, expanding the Party through minority outreach at our community centers, and launching Bank Your Vote to get Republicans to commit to voting early.

    “I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing. The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition. I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November. I want to thank my husband Patrick, our children Abigail and Nash, the members of the 168 who elected me four times, President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead our Party, as well as the RNC staff and donors who have supported me and our mission over the years.”

    Earlier this month, Trump endorsed North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC).

    “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,” Trump said.

    “Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for,” the former president said. “She has told me she wants to accept this challenge and would be GREAT!”

    GOP Governor Offers 5 Requirements to Serve as Trump’s VP

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0

    Who will be Donald Trump’s running mate?

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who is among the field of candidates being considered for the job, offered an idea of what Trump should look for.

    During an interview with Fox News host Lawrence Jones, Noem offered her perspective on the accomplishments, qualifications, and attitudes a vice president for Trump would need to bring to the office.

    “I’m all-in to do what I can to help the team. He needs somebody that actually is not part of the swamp, I think. He needs a business owner,” Noem said. “He needs somebody who’s been a commander-in-chief, somebody who makes decisions when things get tough.” 

    She added, “Those are his qualifications, and he needs to know he can have somebody around him that trusts him and he trusts and will fight.”

    “So, when he picks whoever it is a vice president, I’ll support whoever he picks, and I’m going to make sure that I’m someone who still continues to defend and fight for his policies,” the governor said.

    During a recent interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump was asked about half a dozen potential running mate choices: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat turned independent.

    Trump revealed they are all being considered for VP.

    Manchin Reveals He Will Not Run For President

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0

    On Friday, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) revealed he will not launch a presidential campaign this year.

    The moderate Democrat who announced he will not seek another term in the Senate has fueled speculation he may launch a third party run for the White House.

    “I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run,” Manchin said in remarks at West Virginia University. 

    “I will be involved in making sure that we secure a president that has the knowledge and has the passion and has the ability to bring this country together,” he said.  

    Manchin’s announcement comes days after he floated multiple potential choices for a running mate.

    “Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney,” the West Virginia Democrat said during a Q&A at a City Club of Cleveland breakfast Thursday — a stop on the nationwide “listening tour” he launched after announcing he would forgo a reelection bid in 2024. Romney is also not running for reelection this year.

    “Rob Portman would be right there, too,” Manchin quickly added.

    Report: Trump’s PAC Funds Dwindle To Only $5M

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Image via Pixabay free images

    Donald Trump’s legal troubles are bleeding him dry…

    New reports show Trump has spent around $60 million on legal fees of the four criminal indictments and various ongoing civil lawsuits against him.

    According to Mediaite, disclosures indicate that Trump’s campaign and the various political action committees supporting it have spent millions, leaving his primary PAC with a little over $5 million.

    Save America PAC, Trump’s primary PAC heading into his likely rematch with President Joe Biden, once had over $100 million in the bank. Now, it has just a little over $5 million left after spending over $25 million on legal bills in the second half of last year alone.

    Make America Great Again PAC, which served the same function as Save America is now back in 2016 and 2020, spent $5.9 million in the back half of 2023, with $4 million of that going toward legal fees.

    Most troublingly of all for the former president, perhaps, is the fact that the Super PAC raised only $6.6 million between July and December, a possible indicator of failing enthusiasm for Trump’s candidacy or suspicion of his political operation.

    His campaign itself,  meanwhile, raised a little over $19 million, but spent over $23.5 million in the latest fundraising period.

    Fox News’ Peter Doocy Sounds Alarm Over Latest Poll Trends

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Looking east towards 6th Avenue along north (48th Street) side of Fox News building on a snowy afternoon. [Photo Credit: Jim.henderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons]

    Should Donald Trump be nervous?

    On Thursday, Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy told Fox & Friends that a new Quinnipiac poll showing President Joe Biden up six points on former President Donald Trump could signal a concerning new trend.

    “The trends here may be changing because President Trump, former President Trump, has been leading national poll after national poll over President Biden for the last couple of weeks, but not in this one,” Doocy reported Thursday morning. “And maybe it’s an outlier. Maybe it’s not.”

    Polling headlines have largely been dominated for months by surveys showing encouraging news for Trump, but a brand new Quinnipiac poll shows positive signs for Biden. The president went from a virtual tie in the previous poll to a 6-point lead over Trump, with massive advantages among women and independents.

    ”Quinnipiac has Biden up on Trump six points, 52-44,” Doocy explained. “The Biden team has been trying to pivot to general election mode. They’ve been focusing on abortion access and on union jobs. And the Trump team has spent the last week or so dealing with his legal issues.”

    The Fox News correspondent admitted that while the new poll does have Biden up over Trump, it also shows encouraging new for Nikki Haley.

    “She has got him, according to Quinnipiac, by 547 to 42 nationally,” Doocy said, adding, “But this is a matchup that’s unlikely to happen based on current polling. That puts Trump way ahead of her in primary states that she needs at the moment.”

    He then suggested that the poll reveals an answer to the question, “Who do third-party candidates hurt? According to this poll, they hurt Trump,” Doocy said, adding, “because both Biden and Trump lose support when polled against a major third party. But Biden still wins in this poll. And if RFK, JR. continues playing 14%, he is certainly going to be a spoiler for one candidate or another because that is a huge percentage of the voting public.”

    Boebert Places Fifth In Straw Poll At GOP Primary Debate

    By
    admin
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    2
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
    Things aren’t looking good in her “new” congressional district…

    During the holiday season, embattled Republican Lauren Boebert announced she was no longer seeking reelection in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

    The MAGA representative announced she would run in the neighboring, heavily conservative 4th District. However, the coming retirement of Rep. Ken Buck has given way to a free-for-all GOP primary. For the past month, Boebert’s six competitors say her claim that she’d make a good candidate doesn’t hold up.

    If the straw poll at the first GOP primary debate is any indicator, Boebert’s challenge of winning over voters in a district she only recently moved to is real.

    Colorado Politics has more on Boebert’s underwhelming performance that elicited gasps, and some shrugs, from the crowd:

    The headline-grabbing incumbent’s performance in the decidedly non-scientific survey — Boebert landed in fifth place with just over 10% of the vote, behind three veteran state lawmakers and a former talk radio host who ran last cycle for the U.S. Senate — surprised some in the room but drew shrugs from others, who pointed out that the hall was filled with local Republicans loyal to other candidates who shared the debate stage.

    The 90-minute debate, which drew national attention, took place less than a month after Boebert, the state’s most prominent elected Republican, joined the already crowded GOP primary in the sprawling 4th Congressional District, which covers Colorado’s Eastern Plains, anchored by suburban Douglas County.

    She announced in late December that would seek another term in Congress from the solidly Republican seat after moving from the more competitive Western Slope-based district she’s represented since 2021. Boebert said during the debate that she recently moved to Windsor in Weld County.

    Boebert’s decision to run in the 4th District came little more than a year after she narrowly won reelection, beating Democrat Adam Frisch by a mere 546 votes out of 327,000.

    During the debate, Boebert defended her decision, saying that her family deserved a “fresh start.”

    Boebert has five weeks to win over primary voters in a district that has only elected one Democrat in the last 50 years.

    This article originally appeared in American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

    Report: Conservative Network Shared Private Smartmatic Employee Data With Trump Team After 2020 Election

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Voting systems company Smartmatic is suing conservative media network One America News (OAN) and new evidence shows a direct connection to former President Donald Trump.

    According to a report by CNN, an email exchange dated January 8, 2021, between OAN president Charles Herring and Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who is also being sued by Smartmatic as well as other individuals tied to Trump for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election, purportedly contained a spreadsheet full of passwords for employees of Smartmatic.

    The court records don’t reveal how OAN obtained the spreadsheet; according to CNN, lawyers for Smartmatic alleged the possession of the information means OAN executives “may have engaged in criminal activities” by “appear[ing] to have violated state and federal laws regarding data privacy.”

    Per CNN:

    While Smartmatic’s public filings didn’t identify the sender or recipient of the email, court records from a separate 2020-related lawsuit confirm that Herring and Powell exchanged emails on the same date. The pair’s communications about the purported Smartmatic spreadsheet, which have not been previously reported, resurrect questions that have dogged OAN for years regarding its tendency to blur the lines between opinion journalism and brazen political advocacy.

    Smartmatic is seeking billions of dollars in damages from OAN and Fox News after the networks falsely claimed that the company flipped votes during the 2020 election.

    Last year, Dominion Voting Systems won nearly $800 million in its similar defamation suit against Fox News.

    Trump Opposes RNC Plan To Name Him ‘Presumptive Nominee’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Ronna McDaniel via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Donald Trump wants to win the Republican nomination fair and square…

    On Thursday, former President Trump said he does not support efforts to pressure the Republican National Committee into declaring him a “presumptive nominee.”

    The former president made the remarks Thursday on his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.

    “While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX,” Trump wrote.

    Trump’s statement pushes back on efforts led by a former aide of his campaign, David Bossie — an RNC committee member who has urged Republicans to rally around the former president.

    The RNC was set to consider a resolution that, if approved, would have declared Trump to be the party’s presumptive nominee for president in 2024. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the resolution before it was reportedly withdrawn

    In a statement, RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said, “Resolutions, such as this one, are brought forward by members of the RNC. Chairwoman McDaniel doesn’t offer resolutions. This will be taken up by the Resolutions Committee, and they will decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week.”

    Nikki Haley Kicks Off New Hampshire Primary With Unanimous Victory

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3

    Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is off to a strong start in New Hampshire.

    Haley won all six votes in Dixville Notch, N.H. which kicked off first-in-the-nation primary voting at midnight early Tuesday morning.

    Of the six votes, four are registered Republicans and two are undeclared voters. The remaining voters in the Granite State will head to the polls later on Tuesday.

    Although the small resort community is too small a sample size to signal the direction of the voters’ preferences, Haley celebrated the votes in a post on X, formerly Twitter, early Tuesday morning.

    “A great start to a great day in New Hampshire,” the former South Carolina governor wrote. “Thank you Dixville Notch!”

    Trump still leads New Hampshire with 50.6 percent of the vote, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average. Haley is currently at 36.8 percent. Recent polls suggest Haley performs well among independents and moderate voters in New Hampshire. 

    Trump Hints At VP Pick Hours After DeSantis Calls It Quits

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2

    Who will be Donald Trump’s next running mate? America is waiting with bated breath…

    On Saturday, Trump hinted that people likely won’t be shocked by his choice but stopped short of sharing any more details.

    Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier asked Trump in New Hampshire about when he will decide who could join him on the ticket if he secures the nomination, Trump answered, “Well, it’s never really had that much of an effect on an election, which is an amazing thing, both election and primary. It’s never really had much of an effect.”

    “I may or may not really [decide] something over the next couple of months. There’s no rush to that. It won’t have any impact at all. The person that I think I like is a very good person, a pretty standard. I think people won’t be that surprised, but I would say there’s probably a 25 percent chance that would be that person,” Trump continued.

    Earlier this month, Trump signaled he’s already made his decision on a running mate. (RELATED: Trump Says He’s Selected VP Choice)

    “I can’t tell you that really, I mean, I know who it’s going to be,” Trump said when he was asked who his running mate will be in 2024.

    Baier asked Trump if South Carlina Sen. Tim Scott, who ended his campaign in November, is among those being considered for the position.

    “You know, [Scott] endorsed me. There’s an example, [Nikki Haley] comes from South Carolina, Tim Scott is from South Carolina. But if you look [at] the governor, great governor, another senator [Lindsey Graham]. We happen to like Lindsey,” Trump said. “But, [Gov. Henry McMaster (R)] knows it very well. He endorsed me. It’s very hard for a governor to endorse somebody when you haven’t … I mean, Henry McMaster was the lieutenant governor under her and he endorsed me … What does that tell you?”

    In a Fox News town hall in Iowa earlier this month, Trump indicated he would be willing to consider any of the people who ran against him.

    “I’ve already started to like [Chris Christie] better,” Trump said, in reference to the former New Jersey governor who dropped out of the primary race earlier this month. Christie and Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, with Christie’s 2024 campaign largely squared on criticizing the former president.

    On Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially ended his presidential campaign, spurring rumors the Republican could be teaming up with Trump.

    However, Trump said it’s “highly unlikely” he’d ask Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to serve in a second Trump administration after DeSantis ended his own presidential campaign and endorsed him.

    “It’s probably unlikely,” Trump said after DeSantis dropped out of the race. “But I have to be honest: Everything’s a possibility, but I think it’s highly unlikely. I have a lot of great people, and I have great people that have been with me right from the beginning.”

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