Ronna McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is making a swift return to the political arena, less than two months after her brief and controversial stint with NBC News concluded. McDaniel will now head the Michigan Forward Network, a new conservative nonprofit organization heavily funded by the influential DeVos family, with the explicit goal of shifting Michigan further to the right.
The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, marks McDaniel’s most significant public move since her resignation from the RRNC in February 2024 and her highly publicized departure from NBC News in March 2024.
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McDaniel’s tenure at the RNC, where she served since 2017, was largely defined by her staunch support for President Donald Trump, who played a pivotal role in her initial election to the top party position. However, her leadership faced increasing scrutiny and pressure from within the Republican ranks following a series of election losses, culminating in the underwhelming “red wave” in the 2022 midterm elections.
Calls for her resignation intensified, with even Trump himself publicly pushing for “changes made” at the RNC in early 2024. McDaniel reportedly informed Trump of her decision to step down during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago.
Despite her past friction with the former president, McDaniel cited Trump’s 2024 victory in Michigan as a key motivator for her renewed focus on the state.
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“President Trump’s historic victory last year showed that Michiganders are sick of extreme policies that have made our communities unsafe, our schools fail, and our state too expensive,” McDaniel stated regarding her new role. “I’m excited to work on expanding on that success and getting Michigan back on track.” This statement, shared on her social media, underscores her commitment to leveraging recent Republican successes in the state.
McDaniel’s foray into broadcast journalism with NBC News was short-lived and tumultuous.
Hired as an on-air contributor in March 2024, her debut on “Meet the Press” was met with immediate and widespread backlash from within the network, including prominent MSNBC personalities such as Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, who criticized her past remarks regarding the 2020 election results.
Chuck Todd, then a host at NBC News, publicly questioned McDaniel’s sincerity and called for an apology to “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker for the booking.
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Just two days after her initial appearance, NBC News caved to internal pressure and severed ties with McDaniel. NBCUniversal Group Chairman Cesar Conde issued an apology to staff who felt “let down” by the hiring decision. Trump, ever quick to weigh in, mocked McDaniel’s departure from NBC News in a Truth Social post, describing her as being “stuck in never Neverland.”
Now, with the backing of the DeVos family, Ronna McDaniel is poised to re-enter the political fray, aiming to shape the conservative landscape of Michigan through the Michigan Forward Network. Her return signals a renewed effort to rally conservative forces in a key swing state, less than a year after her high-profile exits from both national Republican leadership and mainstream media.
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