Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called on Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel to resign at the start of the third GOP debate Wednesday night, citing the party’s losses in the election this week.
“If you want to come on stage tonight and you want to look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign I will turn over, yield my time to you,” he said, directing his comment to Mrs. McDaniel, who spoke ahead of the event being held in Miami.
Mr. Ramaswamy said that since Mrs. McDaniel became chair in 2017, Republicans have lost seats in Congress and the White House in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
“I think there’s something deeper going on in the Republican Party here and I’m upset about what happened last night,” he said about Republicans losing elections in Kentucky, Virginia and Ohio. “We have a party of losers at the end of the day, there’s a cancer in the Republican establishment.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also referred to the GOP’s losses in Tuesday’s election, but put more of the blame on former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination.
“I’m sick of Republicans losing,” Mr. DeSantis said.
Mr. Trump skipped debating for the third straight time. He was holding a large rally instead in nearby Hialeah, Florida.
The debate is hosted by NBC News and is moderated by the network’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker and conservative Salem Radio Network host Hugh Hewitt.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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