Chair of Republican party risks Trump’s wrath by finally admitting that Biden won 2020 election
Ronna McDaniel chair ‘painfully’ admits that Democrat really did win
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) has publicly acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election for the first time.
However, Ronna McDaniel told a Christian Science Monitor event in Washington, DC on Thursday that there were “lots of problems” with the election.
“Painfully, Joe Biden won the election and it’s very painful to watch. He’s the President. We know that,” Ms McDaniel said.
Fearing a backlash from Donald Trump, many Republican leaders have refused to clearly state that Mr Biden won the election and helped to spread his discredited claims of widespread voter fraud.
Ms McDaniel urged Republicans to focus on bread-and-butter issues as they look to take back the House and the Senate in the 2022 midterms.
“I think every Republican right now should be talking about 2022. I’m not talking about anything else other than what Biden is doing to destroy our country: high gas prices, an open border, an opioid crisis,” she said.
But when asked about Mr Trump’s continuing focus on the 2020 election, she said candidates in some areas could benefit from talking about election reform.
“We have to talk about the things that people saw. We have to show our voters we are putting processes in place that will ensure the election is fair and transparent.”
In the days after the 2020 election, Ms McDaniel deleted a tweet that implicitly stated that Mr Biden had won the election.
The RNC has established a Committee on Election Integrity and pushed the false claim that “voting irregularities” helped to secure Mr Biden’s victory.
After the 2020 election, the RNC signed on to dozens of failed lawsuits that challenged the results of elections in battleground states that went for the Democrats.
The committee also issued a report claiming Democrat-controlled states had used the Covid-19 pandemic to alter election laws to benefit themselves.
Republicans who have spoken out about the dangers of sowing doubt on election integrity such as Liz Cheney have been ousted from positions in the party.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments