About
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for developing the policy platform and raising funds for the Republican Party. Ronna McDaniel (née Romney) has been chairwoman of the RNC since 2017, with Thomas O. Hicks, Jr., former chair of the far-right, Trump-aligned America First Action PAC and America First Policies, elected co-chair in 2019. Hicks also served as national finance co-chair for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was a board member of Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to fostering a strong conservative movement on college campuses.
After the 2020 presidential election, the RNC stuck by their candidate by both encouraging and not discouraging GOP leaders across the country from casting doubt on the legitimacy of the voting process in the U.S. and therefore Biden’s victory. It supported the many members of Congress who not only objected to certifying the Electoral College results, but also voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection, among other measures.
The RNC supports voter suppression measures such as voter ID requirements, voter roll purges, and prohibiting third-party ballot collection.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, 147 congressional Republicans refused to certify Biden’s win of the 2020 presidential election, a move that appears to have been sanctioned by the RNC.
- In early 2022, the RNC described the insurrection as “legitimate political discourse” in a statement censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for serving on the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.
The Big Lie
- The RNC backed the Big Lie by using its social media accounts to push Sidney Powell’s frivolous lawsuits claiming election fraud.
- Throughout 2021, at least 132 Republican members of Congress publicly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election or falsely claimed the election system in the U.S. is unreliable and subject to fraud.