The Republican National Committee is defending Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel after an Oklahoma state party leader called for her resignation over the GOP’s LGBTQ outreach.
Oklahoma GOP Chairman John Bennett reportedly sent out a fundraising email Tuesday urging McDaniel to step down after the RNC announced its first ever "Pride Coalition" two weeks ago.
But in a statement on Tuesday to The Washington Post, RNC spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said Bennett is "lying" about the steps the national party plans to take as part of McDaniel’s outreach.
"Chairman McDaniel has made it abundantly clear that this does not mean we are advocating for any policy or RNC platform change — Chairman Bennett is lying, and it is disgusting that he’d attempt to raise money off these falsehoods," Alvarez told the Post.
Bennett’s email said McDaniel "MUST Change Course or RESIGN" if "she cannot or will not stand for who we say we are," according to the Daily Beast.
"The OKGOP will not cooperate with this decision and, as your Chairman, I assure the Oklahoma Republican Party that I will continue to stand up for our Republican Party Values and our principles," he wrote.
He also asserted religious freedom is "flat-out incompatible with the pillars of the LGBT movement" and solicited donations to "clear the way of those who are either too incompetent or too selfish to actually defend liberty and our Judeo-Christian founding."
The RNC launched its "RNC Pride Coalition" at a Log Cabin Republicans event earlier this month at Mar-a-Lago, where guests included former President Donald Trump, former first lady Melania Trump and former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, the Post reported, citing coverage by Fox News.
Afterward McDaniel held a phone call with all 168 Republican National Committee members, a group that includes all state party chairs, including Bennett, the Post reported. Bennett didn’t voice any concerns at the time, the Post reported.
According to the Post, Bennett, as Oklahoma GOP chair, has frequently taken aim at the national party, including in an email posted last month on the conservative platform Rumble.
"It has become clear that the Republican In Name Only (RINO) establishment will stop at nothing to obstruct and to keep everything the same," he wrote in a fundraising email, pledging "100% OF DONATIONS GO TO THE STATE PARTY, NOT THE RNC!"
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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