RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel endorses mail-in voting after disappointing election results

After disappointing election results this fall, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel endorsed mail-in balloting Tuesday, distancing herself from former President Donald Trump on an issue that is fracturing the GOP.

The voters of the United States need to vote early, McDaniel, a longtime Trump ally, said during a televised interview on Fox News. I have said this over and over again. There were many saying in 2020 that don't vote by mail, don't vote early. An RNC spokesman wouldn't say anything further.

Donald Trump, who has launched a presidential campaign in 2024, is the most prominent skeptic of mail voting. He continues to raise false and unsubstantiated claims that the election of 2020 was stolen from him, in part due to the vote-by-mail programs in battleground states. He wrote on his Truth Social website last week, in all capital letters, for emphasis: '' NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. McDaniel's comments Tuesday came as Georgia s Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker was set to end. Early voting indicated an edge for Warnock, despite the fact that there has been shattered records.

The GOP's early voting deficiencies have come under greater scrutiny after losses in 2020 and 2022. What many believed would be a Republican wave this fall ended with Democrats losing the House but keeping control of the Senate, while holding onto or picking up governorships in key states.

Let s be clear that the GOP did an excellent job at targeting, pushing and winning vote by mail and early vote before Trump cast the vote by mail as suspect and not reliable, according to Chris McNulty, a former RNC political director. McDaniel is seeking a fourth term as the RNC chair. She faces several possible opponents, including Rep. Lee Zeldin, who lost a surprisingly close race for the governor in New York, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a 2020 election conspiracy theorist with a right-wing support, and Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC member from California.

Donald Trump, who handpicked McDaniel as the RNC chair after the 2016 election, has not weighed in on the upcoming race. The RNC's 168 members are expected to vote on the matter at their winter meeting next month.