Ronna Mcdaniel Defended Her Controversial Calls To Wayne County Canvassers

Ronna McDaniel, who served as the chair of the Republican National Committee from 2017 to 2022. Recently defended controversial calls she made along with former President Donald Trump to GOP canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan in November 2020. In interviews last weekend, McDaniel stood by efforts to pressure the two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to sign off on certification of election results.

Recordings of the calls reviewed by The Detroit News revealed McDaniel and Trump told canvassers William Hartmann and Monica Palmer they would look “terrible” if they certified the election. McDaniel offered to provide the canvassers with lawyers and said “we will take care of that.” While McDaniel claimed the calls were just to check on the canvassers’ well-being, the recordings suggest otherwise.

What Was Said On The Calls

On the calls, Trump claimed “more votes than people” were cast in Detroit and repeated debunked claims of election fraud. He told Hartmann and Palmer “We’ve got to fight for our country” and “we can’t let these people take our country away from us.” Ronna Mcdaniel also pointed out if the canvassers did not sign off, “the public will never know what happened in Detroit.” Both McDaniel and Trump pressured the canvassers not to certify.

While Ronna Mcdaniel acknowledged the canvassers faced threats, she did not fully acknowledge or take responsibility for the pressure tactics used on the calls. Joe Biden’s victory in Michigan by over 150,000 votes has been confirmed by dozens of audits and court rulings. However, McDaniel worked to sow doubts of the legitimate results along with now-former President Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election.