Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was unanimously re-elected to steer the party for another two years on Friday, vowing to help the GOP win back the House and Senate in 2022.
In a speech at the party meeting in Florida, McDaniel admitted she was “mad” about the bruising loss of the Senate after Democrats triumphed in two crucial Georgia runoffs, and admitted the party faces an uphill battle.
“We have a lot of hard work to do to take back the Senate and the House in 2022, but I am mad and I’m not going to let socialism rule this country,” McDaniel vowed.
“I’m going to work with every single one of you to make sure we squash it and we take back the House and take back the Senate,” she said.
“So Democrats, get ready, buckle your seatbelts. We’re coming.”
The former Michigan GOP chair, an ardent ally of President Trump, also made no mention of the commander-in-chief’s loss beyond “losing critical elections,” according to an account from New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin.
McDaniel was tapped to lead the RNC by Trump in 2016, replacing Reince Priebus, who went on to become Trump’s chief of staff for several months.
She disavowed the deadly storming of Congress, telling the audience: “The violence does not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles.”
The Trump administration has faced an exodus of staffers and cabinet members who have rushed for the exits and condemned the president’s behavior before and after the riots.
Several Democratic and Republican members of Congress have not ruled out impeaching Trump in his final weeks in office while calls are mounting for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him.