Less than 24 hours after a prominent Republican Trump-critic became the second sitting member of Congress to lose a primary this year, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted what some viewed to be an ominous warning. "Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake," McDaniel's tweet, which came the day after South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford lost the GOP primary in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District to a pro-Trump challenger, State Representative Katie Arrington. McDaniel clarified the tweet Wednesday morning, which originally came from an interview McDaniel gave to Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs, saying that the full context did not "translate well with a 240-character limit." But the clarifications comes at a particularly charged time for the Republican Party, a party that is clinging to a 51-49 majority in the United States Senate and the real possibility of losing their majority in the U.S. House in November. Sanford's loss this week, and the upcoming runoff election facing another Republican who was critical of Trump, Alabama Rep. Martha Roby, have put into stark terms the very real backlash anti-Trump Republicans are facing with their voters. "Being a Trump critic is a hard position to be in in the Republican Party, and I don’t think Sanford’s sometimes criticism of Trump helped him, that’s for sure," Kyle Kondik, an analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told ABC News. In addition to Roby, Staten Island Republican Rep. Dan Donovan is facing a challenge from an opponent, disgraced former Congressman Michael Grimm, who says he has not shown sufficient loyalty to President Trump. All across the country, Republican primaries up and down the ballot have and continue to be litmus tests for a candidates adherence to Trump and his policy agenda. "We are the party of President Donald J. Trump," Arrington, a one-term South Carolina state lawmaker, said in her victory speech Tuesday night. "I won the primary because I’m a strong supporter of President Trump," Virginia GOP U.S. Senate nominee Corey Stewart, told CNN's Chris Cuomo Wednesday in an interview. The tweet from McDaniel also comes almost simultaneously as one of the most prominent critics of Trump in the Republican Party took another shot at the commander-in-chief. "It's almost becoming a cultish thing, isn't it?" Tennessee GOP Sen. Bob Corker told reporters Wednesday, "And it's not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be, purportedly, of the same party," Corker was venting frustration about his bill that would require Congressional approval of any tariffs imposed over national security concerns, but the alarming nature of his comments The RNC declined to comment further on the tweet and subsequent clarification from McDaniel. Reaction from prominent conservative pundits who are often critical of President Trump, including two ABC News political commentators -– Meghan McCain and Ana Navarro -- was swift. The Democratic Party has not hesitated to portray the coming midterms as a referendum on Trump, and a representative from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said the party looks forward to litigating the President's agenda in the Fall. "The Trump agenda is the mistake. It's hurting millions of families every day. And Ronna McDaniel can rest assured that voters will hold Republicans accountable for it in November," Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the DNC, told ABC News.<doc-sep>Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill May 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Senators from both parties are scrambling to react to President Donald Trump's surprise dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. Flake: More Republicans will be speaking out WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 24: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill after announcing he will not seek re-election October 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Make America Great Again Rally on March 10, 2018 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) announces that he is retiring from the House and stepping down as Speaker at the end of October during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol September 25, 2015 in Washington, DC. After 25 years in Congress and five years as Speaker, Boehner said he decided this morning to step down after contemplation and prayer. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) GREAT FALLS, MT - JULY 05: U.S. president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Four Seasons Arena on July 5, 2018 in Great Falls, Montana. President Trump held a campaign style 'Make America Great Again' rally in Great Falls, Montana with thousands in attendance. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Editor’s Note: S.E. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered,” covering contemporary issues on HLN. The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers. (CNN) — #RIPGOP. You might not know the name Ronna McDaniel. But do me a favor, write it down. S.E. Cupp Because what she tweeted Wednesday night is really important. I don’t know Ms. McDaniel, and presumably you don’t either. She’s probably lovely in person. But on Wednesday at 9:22 p.m. ET, Ms. McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, sent THIS into the ether: Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake. — Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) June 14, 2018 “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake.” Take that in. Let me say here: I am a Republican. I’ve been proud of that my entire adult life, even through some of our darkest hours, even when I’ve departed from the party on issues like gay rights and capital punishment. I was proud because I believed Republican policies were better for people, yes. But I was mostly proud because we were the “party of ideas.” Liberty, limited government, low taxes, fewer regulations, law and order, family first, national security – from Reagan on, we were the party of ideas, and Democrats were the party of identity politics. But this Twitter threat, folks, is what it looks like when a party is out of ideas. When the great ideas are gone, or when the leader of the party has neither affection nor use for them, all that’s left behind is rank demagoguery. When you can no longer elucidate the ideas, or when they are too damaging to openly acknowledge, all you can do is simply make threats, demand loyalty. That’s what the party chair did. Out loud. In plain sight. Where Republicans once stood on principle – even those principles that were unpopular with the taste arbiters in Hollywood, the media and the intellectual elite – now we stand, it seems, on Trump and Trump alone. Mike Lofgren, a former career Republican congressional staff member who served on the House and Senate budget committees, lamented earlier this year in The New York Times: “Where did its principles go? What became of Ronald Reagan’s ‘party of ideas’? One by one, those ideas were tossed aside for expediency and power – except the tax cut. A time traveler from the Reagan era would no longer recognize the Republican Party, but most Republican politicians feel no embarrassment supporting policies they once condemned.” Indeed, even the sacred tax cut isn’t enough to count as a platform. With Republicans all too eager to table their principles for this president, here’s what we know they WILL support, either directly or through tacit silence: Protectionist policies that invite trade wars with our allies. Ripping families apart at the border, separating mothers from their infants and children. A $4.4 trillion budget that increases the deficit to $1 trillion next year. A stated equivalence between white supremacists and those who would oppose them. Apologism for the human rights violations of brutal dictators. A smear campaign against the FBI and our intelligence officers. If this is the “agenda” Ms. McDaniel insists I support, the answer is of course no. The question is, why would any Republican? Get our free weekly newsletter Sign up for CNN Opinion's new newsletter. Join us on Twitter and Facebook But the party of ideas is over. Gone. No more. Instead Republicans are the party of one man, and whatever he capriciously decides he believes in that day. As the saying goes, if you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything. We used to stand for something. Now, just one thing. And with that, you can mark the time of death: 6/13/18, 9:22 p.m. ET. #RIPGOP<doc-sep>Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel walked back a veiled threat aimed at Republicans who might consider breaking from President Donald Trump after backlash to her authoritative tweet. "Complacency is our enemy," McDaniel wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. "Anyone that does not embrace the @realdonaldtrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake." The tweet prompted backlash from traditional conservatives, liberals, and more. Initially, it was unclear if McDaniel was referring to just Republicans running for office or the US as a whole. McDaniel clarified the tweet by noting her remarks during an appearance on the Fox Business Network on Wednesday night, saying Twitter's 280-character limit hindered her ability to offer full context. When FBN host Lou Dobbs was skewering House Speaker Paul Ryan for wanting to cut entitlement spending, McDaniel said, "The House has delivered some really good legislation this year." "We have got a lot more to do, and we cannot risk losing that in these midterms," McDaniel added. "So, complacency is going to be our enemy, and anyone who doesn't embrace the Trump agenda and doesn't recognize the issues that propelled us to victory in the White House, is going to be making a mistake." McDaniel also noted that Republicans "have got to talk about jobs, we have got to talk about the economy, we have got to talk about fair trade." "That is important part of our success," she said. "We have got talk about immigration and the wall and our borders, and those are going to be things our voters are going to expect to hear from all of our candidates."<doc-sep>The Republican chairwoman has warned anyone who chooses not to embrace Donald Trump's agenda “will be making a mistake". Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, raised alarm bells and critics argued she had adopted a threatening tone. Her tweet compounded existing concerns over the Trump administration's perceived co-ordinated efforts to crush any dissent. Ms McDaniel, niece of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, said: “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the Donald Trump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake.” But she has now sought to clarify her statement in a second tweet - drawing attention to the fact it reflected comments she made to Lou Dobbs on Fox News Business. She said the subject matter "didn't translate well" with Twitter's character limit, and posted a photo of her full comments to Dobbs, where she argued Republicans should keep on pushing Trump's agenda before the November midterm elections. The original tweet, which has been shared over 1,500 times, sparked consternation and anger on social media. "Some say McDaniel is talking about GOP candidates like Sanford... and not Americans generally... but that doesn't matter. This language is troubling... and its even more troubling without context," said journalist Yashar Ali. Ms McDaniel, who has been described as “unfailingly loyal to Trump” by The New York Times, reportedly listened to the US president’s request that she stop using her maiden name and now chooses not to use it in official communications. Under Ms McDaniel's leadership, the RNC set up a website in April 2018 which attacked and tried to undermine former FBI Director James Comey – branding him "Lyin' Comey". Ms McDaniel's tweet comes a day after Representative Mark Sanford, an outspoken critic of the president, lost his primary election. The South Carolina Republican, who publicly challenged Mr Trump – sparking a last-minute Twitter attack from the president – was defeated by a more conservative opponent. His opponent, a pro-Trump state legislator named Katie Arrington, branded him a "Never Trumper" in campaign ads and managed to get an endorsement from Mr Trump just hours before polls closed. "Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA (make American great again). He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina," Mr Trump tweeted, referencing the congressman's 2009 affair. He added: "I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!" Many of the most outspoken critics of Mr Trump in the Republican party are leaving Congress after their current term – including Mr Sanford, Senator Bob Corker, Senator Jeff Flake, Representative Ryan Costello and Representative Charlie Dent, who retired last month. Lawmakers have been subject to a steady stream of White House controversies. In February, a study found the pace of resignations, firings and other departures from the Trump White House is twice what it was in George W Bush's first year as president and triple that of Barack Obama's first year in office. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is attempting to clarify a tweet she sent on Wednesday that warned anyone who does not supports President Donald Trump’s agenda “will be making a mistake.” “Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake,” McDaniel tweeted Wednesday night. The tweet drew widespread criticism online for its perceived threat to Trump’s critics. While she did not retract the comment, McDaniel said Thursday in a follow up tweet that her comments “didn’t translate well” on Twitter, which has a 280-character limit. McDaniel’s tweet was extracted and slightly reworded from her interview Tuesday with Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs. Complacency is our enemy. Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake. — Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) June 14, 2018 “We have got a lot more to do, and we cannot risk losing that in these midterms,” McDaniel told Dobbs. “So, complacency is going to be our enemy, and anyone who doesn’t embrace the Trump agenda and doesn’t recognize the issues that propelled us to victory in the White House is going to be making a mistake.” In the same interview, she declared that the “Republican Party is the Trump Party.” McDaniel’s original tweet sparked outrage from fellow conservatives. “What in the actual hell…. is this a threat Ronna?” Meghan McCain, the daughter of Republican Sen. John McCain, tweeted in response. What in the actual hell.... is this a threat Ronna? https://t.co/HFz5zltzxK — Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 14, 2018 Conservative pundit and CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp wrote, “Demagoguery and cheap threats are now the weapons of the @GOP. Reagan would be so proud.” Demagoguery and cheap threats are now the weapons of the @GOP. Reagan would be so proud. https://t.co/DFTMua9oDO — S.E. Cupp (@secupp) June 14, 2018 “I’m old enough to remember when Ronna Romney McDaniel spoke in a way befitting a citizen of a free republic, before Ronna McDaniel started sounding like a spokesperson for an authoritarian government,” another conservative commentator, Bill Kristol, wrote on Twitter. I’m old enough to remember when Ronna Romney McDaniel spoke in a way befitting a citizen of a free republic, before Ronna McDaniel started sounding like a spokesperson for an authoritarian government. https://t.co/Z4zAl5NMSj — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 14, 2018 GOP strategist Rick Wilson, who has been highly critical of Trump, quipped, “Will the RNC be offering an official Trump brand so everyone can sear His name on their bodies as a sign of loyalty? Asking for a friend.”