RNC Chair Blasts Report About Stopping Trump Third Party Run: I Would Never Claim to ‘Manage or Control Him’

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel denied a report that part of her pitch to remain in her position is that only she can convince Donald Trump from running as a third party candidate in 2024.

A recent Washington Post report suggested McDaniel was meeting with RNC members and floating this potential Trump third party run as she gets closer to the vote that will decide if she remains as RNC chair or is replaced by challengers Harmett Dhillon or Mike Lindell. Speaking with Politico, McDaniel denied the “ridiculous assertion” that she would ever claim she could manage Trump.

“I have known President Trump for six years — there is no way I would ever say I can manage or control [him],” McDaniel said.

She did reveal a new rule that would force Republicans vying for the party’s presidential nomination to end up endorsing the eventual nominee, preventing something like a third-party run. Trump is the only Republican to, so far, officially announce that he’s running in 2024.

McDaniel claimed amid the challenges to her position after disappointing midterm results that she is currently running a “unity campaign.”

“I’m running a unity campaign, and part of that is, as party chair, not attacking other Republicans. I just think that’s what the Democrats want us to be doing,” she said.

McDaniel accused Dhillon’s campaign of doing the opposite of hers by targeting other Republicans like herself.

“Her campaign reflects exactly what I’m talking about with Republicans attacking other Republicans to the point that we can’t come together after,” she said.