TL/DR –
The article discusses the role of Ronna McDaniel, the Republican Party chairwoman, in supporting former President Trump’s disputed claims of a fraudulent 2020 election. McDaniel is facing scrutiny after her recent attempt to downplay her involvement. Although she was not the most aggressive member of Trump’s team, a review of her record shows she was supportive of, and in certain instances directly involved in, Trump’s legal and political maneuvers to overturn the election results.
By the second week of December 2020, the presidential election was decided, heading to a formal vote at the Electoral College. Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel refused to accept this, supporting Trump’s election dispute, despite campaign aides telling Trump he had lost and no credible evidence of fraud existed.
McDaniel’s role in Trump’s bid to maintain power is only now receiving scrutiny following NBC journalists’ revolt against her hiring as an on-air contributor, ending her brief relationship with the network. A review of her actions reveals a supportive role in Trump’s legal and political maneuvering ahead of the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory on Jan. 6.
Despite falling short of Trump’s expectations and public involvement decreasing before Jan. 6, McDaniel was viewed by Trump supporters as not dedicated enough to overturning the election results. Before that, however, McDaniel did more to dispute a legitimate election result than any other chair of a major American political party in modern history.
In the post-2020 election days, the R.N.C. and Trump’s campaign and legal team worked together to try to overturn the results for Trump. McDaniel falsely claimed on Fox News that there were “deceased voters” and “batches of votes that were invalidated,” stating “that is stealing.”
After Trump changed his legal team, the R.N.C. shifted away from legal involvement. However, it continued to support efforts to invalidate the election results. Behind the scenes, McDaniel played a more direct role, including helping Trump’s attempt to block certification of Biden’s victory in Michigan.
McDaniel also joined Trump in rallying state attorneys general to join a Supreme Court lawsuit filed by Texas to challenge the results in four states. The lawsuit was rejected a few days later.
McDaniel was also involved in discussions about using alternate electors to declare Trump the winner, conditioned on the success of Republican lawsuits to invalidate results. Trump’s plans included forcing through the electors on Jan. 6, hoping Vice President Mike Pence would block the certification of Biden’s victory.
After the Jan. 6 riot, McDaniel condemned the violence in a statement. In the following months, she oversaw an expansion of the party’s “election integrity” teams, working with activists still committed to falsehoods about the 2020 election.
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