NEW YORK (AP) — Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has discussed leaving her role with former President Donald Trump, with both agreeing to delay a decision until after South Carolina's Feb. 24 primary, according to two people familiar with the matter.
McDaniel has not formally decided to step down and leave her role as head of the GOP's political machine, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose internal deliberations. But having long faced vocal opposition from a faction of the party, McDaniel is under renewed pressure after Trump publicly questioned whether she should stay in the job.
During what was described as a cordial private meeting Monday in Florida, Trump and McDaniel discussed the possibility that she would step down as one of a range of possibilities for changes within RNC leadership.
But they agreed not to make any final decisions until after South Carolina's primary, in which Trump is seeking to deliver a knockout blow to his last major challenger, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, a native of the state and its former governor.
“Nothing has changed," RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said in a statement. "This will be decided after South Carolina.”
McDaniel has faced vocal opposition from leading far-right figures who largely blamed her for the GOP’s political struggles since Trump's 2016 election. That’s even as Trump himself publicly and privately backed McDaniel, who is Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s niece, since the former president first tapped her to lead the committee in 2017.
McDaniel is in the midst of her fourth two-year term. Under the direction of the party's presidential nominee, whoever serves as chair will direct the sprawling nationwide infrastructure designed to elect a Republican president while serving as a chief party fundraiser.
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By STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press
Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko in Washington and Thomas Beaumont in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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