“I think they’re both good,” Trump said in an interview with Breitbart News reporter Matt Boyle. “I like them both. It’s like when I asked Queen Elizabeth when we were together: ‘Which president did you like the best?’ She said: ‘I liked them all.’'
Dhillon, a committee member from California, has garnered support from across the party and is believed to be particularly popular among the grassroots. She has won major backers from both the Texas and Arizona Republican Parties as well as longtime RNC member Morton Blackwell.
McDaniel, who was handpicked for the role by Trump in 2017, is seeking a fourth term as chair following a midterms cycle widely viewed as a disappointment. However, her re-election team insists she has already secured enough votes among the 168 committee members for a fourth term.
In her first election cycle back in 2018, McDaniel presided over Republicans losing the House but increasing their majority in the Senate. In the presidential year of 2020, they lost both the Senate and the presidency but made gains in the House although fell short of taking back control of the chamber.
Dhillon remains the most credible challenge to McDaniel after outgoing Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)—who ran an impressive gubernatorial race in New York that helped carry several down-ticket Republican House candidates to victory—announced he would not be running. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has also spoken of his intention to run, although is seen as very unlikely to succeed.
