It’s Election Day at the Republican National Committee.
Incumbent RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is favored to win a fourth term in Friday’s election but has faced contentious challenges as the party wrestles with its future in the shadow of former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump.
California attorney Harmeet Dhillon, seeking McDaniel’s job, has racked up endorsements from prominent Republicans, including Florida governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Trump himself has stayed neutral in the race.
Meanwhile, more than 100 of the 168 actual GOP committee members have expressed support for McDaniel, more than enough to give her a victory and another two-year term.
The committee will hold its secret-ballot election during a general session on Friday, capping their three-day winter meeting at Dana Point, Calif.
Here’s what else is happening in politics:
- President Joe Biden called for “peaceful protests” after five former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday in the Tyre Nichols case.
- The California state bar seeks to revoke the law license of Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman.
- House Democrats look to reverse the Hyde Amendment, a provision that bans federal funding for most abortions.
- Monterey Park memorial: Harris pushes for tougher gun legislation.
- The Michigan Senate has approved an earlier primary, frustrating the state’s GOP. The Democratic majority approved moving the primary to late February. The move could substantially hurt Republicans ahead of a heated election.
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Biden calls for ‘peaceful protests’ before release of body camera footage in Tyre Nichols case
President Joe Biden said the family of Tyre Nichols deserves a “swift, full and fair investigation” into his death and called for “peaceful protests” after five former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with second-degree murder.
“Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable,” Biden said in his first statement on the Nichols case. “Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.”
Nichols, 29, died Jan. 7 after a police traffic stop that resulted in “two confrontations with police,” according to Memphis police. Nichols “complained of a shortness of breath,” police said. Video from police-worn body cameras of the interaction is scheduled for release Friday evening. Nichols was Black. The five officers charged in the case are also Black.
“We cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted Black and Brown people,” Biden said, renewing his call for policing reform legislation that stalled in Congress last year.
– Joey Garrison
Memphis police incident: ‘This was criminal’: Former Memphis police officers arrested, face murder charges in Tyre Nichols’ death
