Trump praises RNC chairwoman after she criticizes her uncle Mitt Romney

President Trump praised Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel a day after she criticized her uncle, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), over a scathing op-ed he penned excoriating the president’s character.

The RNC has a great Chairwoman in Ronna McDaniel and the @GOP has never been stronger. We achieved historic wins with her help last year! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2019

“The RNC has a great Chairwoman in Ronna McDaniel and the @GOP has never been stronger. We achieved historic wins with her help last year! #MAGA,” Trump tweeted Thursday. 

{mosads}McDaniel has cast herself as a staunch ally of the president, a stance which has put her at odds with her uncle, who has publicly criticized Trump.

In the op-ed Wednesday, Romney declared that Trump had “not risen to the mantle” of the presidency.

“With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring,” Romney wrote.

McDaniel ripped Romney over the op-ed in a tweet.

“POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive,” she tweeted Wednesday in response to Romney’s op-ed. 

POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive. https://t.co/ArhI7Bi7bo

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) January 2, 2019

Romney downplayed the matter on Wednesday.

“She’s the chairwoman of the Republican Party, she has a responsibility. I respect her right to express that viewpoint,” he said. “It’s probably more civil than it might have been across the Thanksgiving dinner table.”

McDaniel on Thursday said there was no bad blood between the two.

“I love my uncle. My tweet yesterday had nothing to do with family,” she said on “Fox & Friends.”

Romney was sworn in on Thursday as Utah’s junior senator. He is replacing retired Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).