共和党全国委员会主席罗娜·麦克丹尼尔越来越有可能放弃她在党内的领导地位在一些委员会成员的沮丧和前总统唐纳德·特朗普的公开敦促下。
多位了解她和特朗普之间对话的消息人士告诉ABC新闻，他们讨论了她在2月24日南卡罗来纳州初选后辞职的可能性。
尽管谈判仍不稳定，但北卡罗来纳州共和党主席迈克尔·沃特利(Michael Whatley)已成为接替麦克丹尼尔的有力竞争者。(“什么都没有改变。RNC的一位发言人在一份声明中说:“这将在南卡罗莱纳州之后决定。)
麦克丹尼尔的角色和RNC总体发展方向的不确定性——也考虑到其去年的筹款情况不佳——正在特朗普为可能与总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)进行的大选斗争做准备之际显现出来。
RNC椅子是做什么的?
虽然RNC主席表面上有一个很大的头衔，领导主要的党机关，但这一工作并不像听起来那么重要。
例如，共和党主席没有与在国会山指导立法的国会领导人保持沟通——他们也没有每天在白宫内或帮助指导该党众多当选的州和地方官员的选择。
然而，RNC的负责人确实在为各州政党筹款和组织方面发挥了重要作用，以帮助巩固该党候选人在选举中的基础设施。最重要的是，主席作为一个重要的扩音器，放大共和党在特定选举周期的信息。
“基本上，RNC的工作是筹集资金，然后做两件事:第一，将资金直接投入目标州，建立选民目标行动;另一个是在华盛顿建立一个政治架构来支持这些努力。是的，还有一些类似的国有化的东西，通信是一个重要的部分，”前RNC通信主管道格·叶禾说。
这发生在选举年有什么关系吗?
专家说，选举年RNC高层的这种动荡可能会给该党2024年提名人的获胜机会带来问题，但不太可能在11月的民意调查中得到体现。
假定被提名人通常对RNC的运作有很大的影响力。目前在提名中领先的特朗普不是典型的推定提名人。他是一位前总统，帮助重塑了共和党的形象和平台，以匹配自己的形象和平台。
党内专家预测，鉴于特朗普的影响力，他可能会完全排挤麦克丹尼尔，用其他盟友取代她。麦克丹尼尔也有可能继续留在RNC担任“更多的象征性角色”，而特朗普的支持者则承担更多的共和党重任。但这两种情况都不会特别罕见。
更广泛地说，由于麦克丹尼尔对特朗普的忠诚，这种不确定性可能会引起人们的关注。
“每当我们有某人成为被提名人时，他们基本上接管了党。通常都是这样。那可能是一把新椅子。这可能只是让你自己的人来实际运作，而目前的主席更多的是作为一个象征性的角色留在那里。叶禾说:“两者都有可能。
“我们对此更加关注，因为罗娜·罗姆尼·麦克丹尼尔一直非常忠于唐纳德·特朗普，我们再次看到这种忠诚是错误的，”叶禾告诉ABC新闻。
“其中一部分是总统任期内发生的完全正常的周期。另一方面是唐纳德·特朗普周围的不正常现实。
谁是沃特利?
如果麦克丹尼尔离开她的职位，沃特利被选中接替她的职位，这位北卡罗莱纳州议员将必须由168名RNC议员中的大多数选举产生。
鉴于沃特利在去年竞选RNC联合主席时输给了现任主席德鲁·麦基西克，这样的胜利并不确定。但现在，沃特利可能会得到该党假定提名人的支持，后者在总统选举年受到了特别大的尊重
他的晋升将标志着一名真正的选举否认者的晋升，此前沃特利大声疾呼支持特朗普在2020年毫无根据地声称选民欺诈。
“会有很多过度紧张的事情。“拒绝选举RNC主席!””叶禾模仿着对沃特利假设的提升的反应说道。“什么...你期待吗?是唐纳德·特朗普。”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel could be stepping down: Why it matters, and who could replace her
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel looksincreasingly likely to leave her leadership role in the partyamid frustration from some committee members and very public prodding from former President Donald Trump.
Multiple sources familiar with a conversation between her and Trump have told ABC News that they discussed the possibility of her resigning from her position after the South Carolina primary, on Feb. 24.
And while the talks remain fluid, Michael Whatley, who serves as the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, has emerged as a prominent contender to serve as McDaniel's replacement. ("Nothing has changed. This will be decided after South Carolina," an RNC spokesperson said in a statement.)
The uncertainty over McDaniel's role and the RNC's direction in general -- also given its poor fundraising last year -- is playing out as Trump gears up for a likely general election battle against President Joe Biden.
What does the RNC chair do?
While the chair of the RNC ostensibly has a big title, leading the main party organ, the job is not quite as significant as it sounds.
For example, the Republican chair is not in constant communication with congressional leaders guiding legislation on Capitol Hill -- nor are they inside the White House every day or helping direct the choices of the party's numerous elected state and local officials.
However, the RNC head does play a significant role in fundraising and organizing for state parties to help solidify infrastructure for the party's candidates up and down the ballot. And on top of that, the chair serves as a significant megaphone to amplify whatever the GOP's message is for that particular election cycle.
"Basically, the RNC's job is to raise money to then do essentially two things: One, pump it directly back into targeted states to set up voter targeting operations; and the other is to build out a political structure in D.C. to aid those efforts. And yes, then there is some more kind of nationalized things like that, communications being an important part," said Doug Heye, a former RNC communications director.
Does it matter that this is happening in an election year?
Such turmoil at the top of the RNC during an election year may seem like it could cause issues with the winning chances of the party's 2024 nominee -- but it's unlikely to register in the polls in November, experts said.
The presumptive nominee typically has significant sway over how the RNC functions. And Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination, is not a typical presumptive nominee. He's a former president who helped remake the GOP's image and platform to match his own.
Party experts predicted that it's possible Trump, given his influence, pushes McDaniel out entirely and replaces her with other allies. It's also possible that McDaniel remains at the RNC in "more of a figurehead role," while Trump-backers take on more of the party's heavy lifting. But neither would be particularly unusual.
More broadly, the uncertainty may be drawing attention because of how loyal McDaniel has been to Trump.
"Whenever we have somebody become a nominee, they essentially take over the party. That's what usually happens. That may be a new chair. That may be just bringing in your own people to actually run the thing while the current chair stays there in more of a figurehead role. It can be both," Heye said.
"We're paying more attention to it because Ronna Romney McDaniel has been very loyal to Donald Trump, and we see yet again that that that loyalty is misplaced," Heye told ABC News.
"Part of it is the completely normal cycle of what happens in presidential years. The other part of it is the abnormal reality around Donald Trump," he argued.
Who is Whatley?
Should McDaniel leave her role and Whatley be tapped to replace her, the North Carolinian would have to be elected by a majority of the 168 RNC members.
Such a victory is no sure thing, given that Whatley lost out to the current RNC co-chair, Drew McKissick, when the two ran for that role last year -- but now, Whatley could be supported by the party's presumptive nominee, who is given a particularly large amount of deference in a presidential year.
His elevation would mark the promotion of a bona fide election denier after Whatley vociferously endorsed Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud in 2020.
"There are gonna be a lot of overwrought things. 'Election denier RNC chair!'" Heye said, mimicking reactions to Whatley's hypothetical elevation. "What ... do you expect? It's Donald Trump."
