Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel downplayed reports indicating a growing feud with the state of New Hampshire over the 2024 election cycle.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” McDaniel was asked about the RNC threatening to pull its planned debate in New Hampshire if its first-in-the-nation primary gets moved ahead of Iowa’s caucuses, which are scheduled to take place in January.
“The RNC just warned New Hampshire that if it moves up its primary, which is a possibility, depending on what Iowa does, it’s all very convoluted and deep and complex,” said guest anchor Bill Hemmer.
“You are threatening to take away their debate if that happens. The Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, did not hold back, he said this, ‘We will not be threatened, we will follow our law, and we WILL,’ in all caps, ‘go first. End of story.’ So how’s this going to work out?”
In response, McDaniel said she believes she and Sununu are “on the same page” and noted that the Democratic National Committee stoked controversy earlier this year when it opted to make South Carolina the first presidential nominating state on its calendar for the 2024 cycle, prompting a scheduling clash with Iowa and New Hampshire.
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“I think New Hampshire and Iowa should recognize the RNC, the Republican Party, actually through our members. We supported Iowa having the first-in-the-nation caucus and New Hampshire having the first-in-the-nation primary,” McDaniel said.
“It’s the Democrats that just walked away from those two states, not us. So we’re committed to that. Democrats are trying to place shenanigans in Iowa,” she added. “And I don’t think New Hampshire should fall for that. And I hope they don’t allow Democrats to mess with our primary process and our calendar, especially when they walked away from those two states. And so did [President] Joe Biden, by the way.”
There was more to Sununu’s statement, as reported by Fox News, than relayed by Hemmer in his interview with McDaniel.
Sununu, a Republican, also said the “first presidential primary will be taking place in New Hampshire, regardless of what the political power brokers in Washington, DC think” and declared that “[t]hreatening” to take away New Hampshire’s debate was a “disservice” to the various campaigns and candidates.