McDaniel defends RNC record, fires back at Ramaswamy

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel defended her record amid a series of election losses and went after Vivek Ramaswamy, who pointedly criticized her on stage at the Republican debate this week.

In a terse interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham late Friday, McDaniel addressed the biotech entrepreneur’s calls for her to resign during Wednesday’s primary debate after the party’s performance in Tuesday’s election.

“Well, first I’m going to continue to focus on Joe Biden and Democrats and I think there was a moment missed during that debate, by Vivek to talk about the fact that we still have 13 American hostages in Israel,” McDaniel responded, adding that Republican voters are tired of the “circular firing squad” within the party and would rather focus on issues such as the border and crime.

Ramaswamy has attracted criticism over his stance on Israel after he suggested the U.S. should withhold military aid until Israel could provide a post-invasion plan for Gaza.

“When Vivek didn’t vote in 2016, I was leading Michigan to the first win in history in 30 years. In 2018, we defied the odds, we got three senators, people like Josh Hawley, that allowed President Trump to build the largest conservative majority on the Supreme Court,” McDaniel said, hitting Ramaswamy again for his voting history after previously calling out his vote for former President Barack Obama.

McDaniel has served as chair since 2017 and has been a close ally to former President Donald Trump. Prior to her election as RNC chair, she led the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.