Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel blasted Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Thursday over his call for her resignation during Wednesday’s debate.
Ramaswamy demanded McDaniel’s resignation in his opening statement during the debate, drawing a huge round of applause and cheers from the audience.
Republicans had a disappointing election night Tuesday, losing control of the Virginia General Assembly and failing to unseat Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky.
Read: Kentucky Rep. Massie Speaks Out On ‘Kill Switch’ Provision That Could ‘Disable’ Vehicles
“You know, listen, he’s at 4%, he needs a headline,” McDaniel told Fox Business host Stuart Varney. “I’m going to say what I’ve been saying to the Republicans all along — our headlines should be about Joe Biden, the border, fentanyl, crime, terrible things that are happening in this country that the American people are looking to our party for solutions. But I also will stand by my record as RNC chair.”
Ramaswamy currently is getting 4.7% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls from Oct. 17 to Nov. 5, with former President Donald Trump getting 58.5%, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida receiving 14.4% and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley getting 9%.
McDaniel fended off a challenge for the chairmanship of the RNC by lawyer Harmeet Dhillon in January, winning 111 votes out of the 168 for the position despite Republicans underperforming expectations of a “red wave” nationally in the 2022 midterm elections.
“I know Vivek’s kind of newer to the party, he voted for Obama, so he may not know that,” McDaniel added.
Ramaswamy fired back in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Ronna should resign. This shouldn’t be controversial,” Ramaswamy said. “Instead, she reportedly said the RNC won’t give me ‘one cent’ of funding – which proves my point about RNC corruption. And this morning she is flat-out *lying* by saying I voted for Obama.”
Read: US Troops Hit Four Times By Iranian-Backed Groups Since Wednesday In Syria
“Swing-and-a-miss, but keep trying,” Ramaswamy continued.
Ramaswamy’s campaign website notes that he voted for a libertarian candidate in 2004, but did not vote in his 20s.
“He never voted for Obama–that’s just a petty lie,” a Ramaswamy spokesperson told the DCNF about McDaniel’s claim that Ramaswamy voted for Obama.
A spokesperson for Ramaswamy pointed the Daily Caller News Foundation to a report on TimCast.com to back up Ramaswamy’s comments.
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Signup for our free newsletter.
We can’t do this without your help; visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps