Facing a cash crunch and harsh criticism from a faction of far-right conservatives, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Friday called for the party to unite behind the goal of defeating President Joe Biden.
McDaniel spoke at the RNC's winter meeting in Las Vegas behind closed doors on Friday, addressing a gathering of state chairmen and other top party members in what's expected to be a critical swing state in the November election.
"We Republicans will stick together, as united as the union our party long ago fought to preserve," McDaniel said, according to people who were in the room and disclosed her remarks on condition of anonymity to discuss a private gathering. "We'll have our battles ahead of us, but they're good battles, and they're worth fighting for."
McDaniel's appeal for unity comes as former President Donald Trump and his allies push the party to get behind him and effectively end the primary even though he still faces a final major rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. While McDaniel has fought off opponents before, winning a competitive race for a fourth term as chairwoman last year, she's now facing Trump supporters on the far right who are creating parallel efforts that could conflict with the national party.
Campaign finance disclosures released this week show the RNC had just $8 million in the bank and $1 million in debt. While the Trump campaign heads into 2024 with $42 million cash on hand, Biden's political operation reported raising $97.1 million in the final months of 2024 across the various committees it uses to fundraise and ended the year with $117.4 million on hand.
Biden is already working with the Democratic National Committee, which partners automatically with the incumbent president. An effort by Trump allies to have the RNC this week declare Trump the "presumptive nominee" was withdrawn after it drew criticism because Haley is still running.
Trump has previously backed McDaniel, though his campaign and the RNC have disagreed at times. Trump declined to participate in party-sponsored primary debates before this year's Iowa caucuses.
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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
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