Lee Zeldin Says He’s Not Running For RNC Chair, While Blasting Ronna McDaniel in a Scathing Statement

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Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) announced Wednesday he will not be challenging Ronna McDaniel for Republican National Committee chair.

The New York congressman, whose narrow loss in a bid for New York governor this year has Republicans hyping his political prowess, announced the decision in a statement that savaged the performance of McDaniel, who many Republicans are blaming for the party’s poor midterms performance.

“I won’t be running for RNC Chair at this time with McDaniel’s reelection pre-baked by design, but that doesn’t mean she should even be running again,” Zeldin said. “[The] issue is Chairwoman McDaniel’s re-election appears to already be pre-baked, as if the disappointing results of every election during her tenure, including yesterday in Georgia, do not and should not even matter.”

In a lengthy statement criticizing the GOP’s midterm performance, Zeldin concluded with a call for McDaniel to step down and make way for new blood.

“Republican voters already believe that Washington, D.C. is an irredeemable swamp,” he said. “They will be proven right, yet again, if Chairwoman McDaniel moves forward with running for a fourth term, despite her prior pledge not to do so. It appears to me that her re-election with a majority vote from the 168 RNC members would then be pre-determined.”

“The better path forward would be for Chairwoman McDaniel to listen to and respect the wishes of the actual grassroots voters of our party, and allow the RNC to forge ahead with new leadership,” he said. “Her greatest service to the Republican Party at this time would be to make room for a new Chair”

McDaniel has led the RNC since former President Donald Trump moved into the White House in 2017. She proved her fealty to Trump early, dropping “Romney” from her name on his request, given his disdain for her uncle, Mitt Romney.

But the party’s failures in November have proved too much for even many in the MAGA wing of the party that wants to see McDaniel out.

One of those voices, Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC committeewoman, and close Trump ally, announced her run for McDaniel’s job on Tucker Carlson Tonight this week.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is also running.

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