Matt Gaetz Makes Stunning Endorsement For Next RNC Chair

Florida firebrand Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is weighing in on a potential successor to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, who announced earlier this week that she would be stepping down following a meeting with former President Donald Trump.

In an online post that perhaps best encapsulates the twisted ways of Washington, Gaetz backed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the top job, extolling the California Republican’s fundraising prowess and suggesting he would be able to turn things around at the RNC, which has suffered several years of anemic contributions.

“I fully endorse Kevin McCarthy for RNC Chair. Kevin is well organized and a very high-revenue fundraiser. He will also be well-liked by the RNC Committee. The RNC Chair doesn’t make any policy decisions, set any agenda, or negotiate against Democrats, ever. Kevin would be terrific,” Gaetz wrote on Tuesday according to Fox News.

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The post on X was in response to a scoop by The Calvin Coolidge Project which claimed insiders are saying that McCarthy is being considered as a “dark horse candidate” for the position.

Asked by POLITICO about his post, Gaetz replied, “The tweet speaks for itself.”

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a conservative who backed McCarthy in several rounds of voting before flipping to support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), said his fellow Florida man knows how to get under the skin of others, and thought this endorsement was more of the same.

“My initial thought was Matt sure knows how to troll,” Donalds said. “I thought it was tongue in cheek.”

“I noted a twinge of sarcasm in that comment,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) added when asked about the post by Gaetz.

Regardless of whether Gaetz is serious or not, colleagues agree that McCarthy, who raised record sums for House Republicans during his tenure in 2023, would be a considerable asset for the starving RNC.

“That’s a tip of the hat to Gaetz to get somebody with new energy, new perspective and a proven track record of being just a massive fundraiser,” Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) told POLITICO. “If you’re looking for somebody to build a majority, I think Kevin McCarthy would be the guy.”

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) added McCarthy “did a heck of a job as Speaker.”

“That’s fascinating,” Diaz-Balart added of Gaetz’s endorsement of McCarthy. “That is fascinating.”

Sources close to the RNC’s decision-making process told Fox that no decision has been made on a successor to McDaniel and that the current chair is focused on ensuring a successful transition following the South Carolina Republican primary on February 24th. A critical component of that task is to seamlessly merge the RNC’s 2024 political operations with that of its presumptive presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.

The bad blood between Gaetz and McCarthy goes back years but kicked into overdrive in 2023 after Gaetz led a small faction of hardline conservatives in joining with Democrats to defenestrate McCarthy. The ensuing chaos led to multiple nominees and rounds of voting before Republicans settled on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). McCarthy resigned from Congress last month, but not before taking a parting shot at his colleagues.

Other sources familiar with McDaniel’s meeting with Trump say the former president is inclined to back Michael Whatley, an RNC member and chair of the North Carolina GOP who he credits with helping him win the state in 2020.