Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday called for "new blood" at the Republican National Committee and threw his support behind Harmeet Dhillon for RNC chair.
"I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC," DeSantis told Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, on Florida's Voice.
"I do think we need some fresh thinking. And practically you need grassroots Republicans to power this organization with volunteering and donations, and I think it's going to be very difficult to energize people to want to give money and volunteer their time with the RNC if they don't change direction."
"I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C.," he added. "Why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America? It's more Democrat than San Francisco is." DeSantis referenced a letter that Dhillon sent to RNC members about considering regional offices while keeping their headquarters in Washington.
DeSantis, who is considering a 2024 run for the White House, is the only GOP candidate currently polling in double digits against former President Donald Trump among Republicans.
Dhillon, a former Trump campaign adviser, is running against RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who has gotten blowback from Republicans following the results of the midterm election.
"We've had three substandard election cycles in a row: '18, '20, and '22. And I would say of all three of those, '22 was probably the worst," DeSantis said.
"Given the political environment of a very unpopular president in Biden, huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction — that is an environment that's tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and in state houses all across the country. And yet that didn't happen."
RNC committee members on Friday will hold a secret ballot vote for several positions, including chair. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is also running to lead the party.
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