I remember Zeldin saying that the fix was in for Rona. That was in early December, 2022!
Lee Zeldin won’t run for RNC chair, says fix is in for Ronna McDaniel
Remember, it's the state's party chairs and two selected committeemen from each state who vote for the national party chair. Many of them are still likely GOPe.
It's likely Rona did indeed have the votes early, without Trump's endorsement, and Trump had no leverage to change that.
Yeah, I know it’s the State Chairs decision. I agree with you that many of them are GOPe but a Trump endorsement of his attorney Dhillon would have forced them to publicly defend their backing of McDaniel\Romney. If that had happened, it might make it easier to dislodge some of them.