GOP must ‘change and adapt or die,’ Dhillon warns in quest for RNC leadership
Ryan King
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Conservative attorney Harmeet Dhillon is sounding off alarms that the GOP must “change and adapt or die” as she seeks to usurp the Republican National Committee‘s leadership post from incumbent Ronna McDaniel.
Dhillon expressed discontent that entrenched forces within the party apparatus are adverse to needed change and have disdain for the grassroots base, the latter of which she believes has an appetite for reform amid the GOP’s electoral woes. She hailed McDaniel as a “wonderful” person, but she argued that McDaniel has presided over a losing streak for the party over the past six years.
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“Whether it’s her fault or not, the fact is what it is. And to win elections, we’re going to have to change and adapt or die. And so that’s why I’m stepping up to run for chair of the RNC,” Dhillon said in an interview with Fox News. “We need a change at the RNC. I’m hearing that from voters. I’m hearing that from donors. I’m hearing that from influencers online and figures in the movement.”
McDaniel became the RNC’s chairwoman back in 2017 with former President Donald Trump’s backing. Dhillon noted that the GOP went on to lose the House in 2018, the presidency in 2020, and dramatically underperformed in 2022. She attributes part of the losses to a failure to adapt to the changing electoral landscape.
“The party has not been a leader on hustling ballots into the boxes. We’re still talking about emotionally appealing to voters, buying very expensive ads hoping that people will turn out on Election Day,” she continued. “Guess what, Democrats don’t do that. They get out there where ballot harvesting and early voting are legal, which is in most states now. They get out there and they hustle those ballots.”
Another problem Dhillon raised is concerns that the GOP is not focusing enough on setting a robust agenda to contrast with the Democrats.
“I don’t think we have been great at articulating our vision of why people should vote for us. I think we’ve been allowing the Democrats to set the agenda and allowing them to really dictate what our party stands for and what we’re doing,” she said.
Internally, Dhillon wants to cut excessive spending at the RNC, asserting that “there’s a lot of bad consulting contracts, vendor contracts that are not competitively bid.” She added that there’s “a real sense of wanting to keep everything exactly the same at the RNC.”
McDaniel is the presumed favorite in the race and reportedly locked down over 100 members at the RNC to back her candidacy. Dhillon has been scrambling behind the scenes to peel away support from McDaniel and emphasized that many of those McDaniel backers coalesced around the incumbent before she had serious competition.
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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is also vying for the RNC perch. McDaniel has left the door open to a private question-and-answer style debate before the 168 RNC members who will decide on the next RNC leader during the group’s annual winter meeting.
She has downplayed criticisms of her leadership and raised split-ticking voting as a serious hindrance that spelled doom to the party in the last midterm cycle.