Donald Trump was the Republican Party outsider in 2016.

A $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage after the 2020 presidential election focuses on the roles of hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs in spreading false stories about fraud in Democrat Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley has launched his campaign for North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat.

Former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd is leaving NBC News after nearly two decades at the network.

Journalists see themselves as truth-tellers, and sometimes as contrarians.

A top concern for local election workers throughout the country this year is their own safety.

Most news organizations hold its journalists to strict ethical standards to avoid conflicts of interest either real or perceived.

NBC News' messy hiring and firing of former Republican National Committee head Ronna McDaniel puts a spotlight on television's practice of paying on-air political contributors.

Donald Trump’s political operation was widely praised for its professionalism and effectiveness throughout the Republican nomination fight.

NBC News will cut ties with former Republican National Committee chief Ronna McDaniel, hired last week as an on-air political contributor.

Hosts across MSNBC's airwaves are following Chuck Todd in publicly criticizing their network for hiring former Republican National Committee chief Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

Donald Trump’s lieutenants are cutting dozens of staff across the Republican National Committee in a cost-cutting move that further cements the former president’s takeover of the GOP’s political and fundraising machinery.

GOP officials have voted to install Donald Trump’s handpicked chair of the Republican National Committee.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel says she will leave her post on March 8.

Donald Trump is calling for a shakeup at the highest levels of the Republican National Committee.

Donald Trump is calling for a leadership change at the Republican National Committee in an attempt to install a new slate of loyalists — including his daughter-in-law — at the top of the GOP’s political machine even before he formally secures the party’s next presidential nomination.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has discussed the possibility of stepping down during a private meeting with former President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump has issued a warning to the Republican National Committee’s chairwoman.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is calling for the party to unite behind the goal of defeating President Joe Biden.

The Republican National Committee is meeting behind closed doors in Las Vegas this week, but top party officials will no longer consider a resolution proposed to declare former President Donald Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.

The Republican National Committee has pulled a resolution to consider declaring Donald Trump the party’s “presumptive 2024 nominee” before he formally clinches the requisite number of delegates.

Donald Trump pressured two elections officials not to certify 2020 vote totals in a key Michigan county.

A fourth Republican presidential debate has been set for next month, with heightened polling requirements that could make the stage less crowded than before.

The Georgia prosecutor who has accused former President Donald Trump and others of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state is seeking to call Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as witnesses in a trial for two of the defendants scheduled to begin later this month.

Sen. Tim Scott wants the Republican National Committee to change specifications for this month's presidential debate, suggestions that could put the South Carolina Republican in a better onstage position.

The announcement came uncommonly early — five years before the convention to select the GOP nominee for the 2028 election cycle.

Houstonians will be keeping a close eye on a big announcement coming from Milwaukee Friday morning.

After years of criticizing mail voting and so-called ballot harvesting as ripe for fraud, Republicans at the top of the party want to change course.

Republicans have narrowly picked a former Kansas secretary of state candidate who promoted election conspiracies to lead it for the next two years.

Ronna McDaniel has become the longest serving leader of the Republican National Committee since the Civil War.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has won her bid to lead the GOP for two more years.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has won her bid to lead the GOP for two more years.

The Republican National Committee is set to resolve a bitter leadership feud that is exposing dangerous divisions within a party that has struggled to move past a disappointing midterm ahead of a critical race for the White House.

Republicans and Democrats are being forced to confront critical questions about the people and policies they want to represent them as the next election season roars into view.

Ronna McDaniel has kept the RNC aligned with former President Donald Trump, who some Republicans have blamed for the party’s underwhelming performance in the midterm elections.

The Republican National Committee is moving forward with a new post-election audit designed to examine the GOP’s underwhelming performance in the recent midterms and the party’s broader struggles since former President Donald Trump rose to power.

First lady Jill Biden and U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were in Texas Sunday to help members of their respective parties energize voters before Election Day.

The great red wave is looming.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott is barely halfway through his first term, but he's already leaning into a fight against his own party’s leadership.

Former President Donald Trump says Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell “does not speak for the Republican Party.”.

Party leaders at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting this past week left no doubt that the GOP is choosing to serve Donald Trump and his political interests before the next presidential election.

The Republican National Committee has censured two GOP lawmakers for participating on the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

The Republican National Committee says it is planning a rules change that would force presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2020 file photo, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks during a news conference at the Republican National Committee in Washington. The head of the Republican National Committee is declining to encourage former President Donald Trump to run for the White House in 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)NEW YORK – The head of the Republican National Committee on Wednesday declined to encourage former President Donald Trump to run for the White House in 2024, saying the GOP would stay “neutral” in its next presidential primary. I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” McDaniel told The Associated Press when asked whether she wanted to see Trump run again in the next presidential election. I think it’s dangerous.”Moving forward, she said that voters, not Trump, are the head of the Republican Party, though Trump continues to maintain “a huge, huge presence” with his base.

McDaniel was selected by Trump for the role four years ago and he endorsed her for a new term about a week after the Nov. 3 election. That could give the outgoing president additional sway over the party as he ponders his own future, including a potential presidential run in 2024. While she did not repeat Trump's false claims that he won the election, McDaniel said the GOP continues “to fight for President Trump" as he makes legal challenges across the country. Despite Trump's musing about running again in four years, McDaniel pledged to uphold the party's neutrality in primaries. “President Trump earned more minority votes than any Republican candidate in decades, and a record number of women, minorities and veterans were elected to office,” McDaniel wrote.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):7:15 p.m.President Donald Trump is endorsing the chair of the Republican National Committee for another term, despite his electoral defeat. Cunningham conceded the race on Tuesday, saying that “the voters have spoken” and that it was clear Tillis had won. His Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, was declared the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 7 after flipping Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won those states in 2016. ___11:05 a.m.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called Donald Trump the “previous president” of the United States and said it was “refreshing” to talk to President-elect Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and some of his Republican supporters are testing out a rallying cry for his uphill fight to reverse the lead that Joe Biden holds in key battleground states: count all “legal” votes. The language is freighted with a clear implication, namely that Democrats want illegal votes counted, a claim for which there is no evidence. That has not stopped the chorus of Republican leadership arguing all legal ballots must be counted, including from the Governor of Georgia, freshly re-elected Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and the Vice President. In Nevada, a lawsuit alleges that ineligible votes were cast in the Las Vegas area, the biggest Democratic stronghold in an otherwise predominantly GOP state. “When these kind of lawsuits are filed it just breeds contempt for the whole legal system,” he said.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, delegates are holding an in-person meeting and roll-call vote in the ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center before attention turns to prime-time programming. The GOP convention is a crucial moment for Trump, who is trailing in national and battleground state polls and under intense pressure to turn the race around. After the Charlotte kickoff, most of the GOP convention will take place in Washington, D.C., at and around the White House, as well as by video. But first comes the official business" in Charlotte, which the party selected in 2018 to host the convention. They're going to have a hard time garnering attention because weve lived with Trump for so long," Brinkley said.

RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said in a letter to RNC members that only the roughly 2,500 regular delegates to the convention would be permitted to attend the opening three nights of the convention. The move comes after the GOP was forced to move most of the convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, after local officials ruled out a full-capacity crowd amid the pandemic. When we made these changes, we had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed," McDaniel said. McDaniel said the convention was planning to use both indoor and outdoor spaces. The GOP will be providing on-site temperature checks and face-coverings, and will have COVID-19 testing available for attendees.

WASHINGTON The Republican National Committee and President Donald Trumps campaign say they have now hired 1,500 field staffers, aiming to convert their financial advantage over Democrats into votes in November. Trump Victory, the joint field effort of the two organizations, announced Monday the hiring of an additional 300 staffers set to hit 20 target states by Wednesday in the largest field operation over mounted by a Republican. Republicans are quick to note that their staffer count in the field is more than double that of Biden, whose goal was 600 field staffers by the end of June. Both the Trump and Biden field operations went virtual largely overnight in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic hit. We have the biggest and best ground game operation ever seen, said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh.

FILE - In this July 21, 2016, file photo, confetti and balloons fall during celebrations after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's acceptance speech on the final day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected to host the celebration marking President Donald Trumps acceptance of his partys nomination for reelection, the Republican National Committee chairwoman said Thursday. The governor of North Carolina, the official host of this summers Republican National Convention, had balked at promising Trump a full-blown convention in Charlotte free from social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic. We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville, McDaniel said. Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trumps heart as his home state, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020.

But she made clear that Jacksonville is the favorite now that Charlotte, North Carolina, the official host of this summer's Republican National Convention, has balked on promising Trump a full-blown convention free from social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Shame on him, because he put politics over the people of his state and revenues coming into his state, McDaniel said in the radio interview. Mayor Len Curry is a former chair of the state Republican Party and the area is the home base of GOP Gov. We are going to keep our convention of, the business of the convention in Charlotte. Charlotte officials on Wednesday said that despite public comments from Trump and GOP officials, they had not been officially informed of any intent to move any part of the convention.