“Anytime we’re talking about anything other than what Joe Biden and the Democrats are doing, it’s a mistake, and the RNC needs to be the unifying force to remind Republicans of that,” said one GOP donor. “Censuring members of your own party? That’s not what they’re supposed to be doing.”

Still, the censure vote underscores just how tightly the RNC has latched onto Trump since he first won the party’s presidential nomination in 2016. At the time, many Republicans were reluctant to throw their support behind the bombastic real estate mogul and former reality TV star.

Since then, however, the RNC has marched in lockstep with Trump. The committee’s chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel — who’s the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a prominent Trump critic — was handpicked by the former president after his 2016 win. And while the two political parties have historically selected new chairs after they lose control of the White House, she was reelected last year without facing any opposition.

“The RNC — most of those folks were put into place over the course of the four years by Donald Trump,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a Trump ally-turned-critic, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “And so, it’s certainly — Ronna Romney McDaniel is carrying water for Donald Trump in this regard.”