NBC News hires former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

You don’t say!

Thanks, Uncle Mitt!

I’d like to think that Uncle Mitt was like this when his come of a niece dropped her maiden name in order to keep the RNC job.

More proof that NBC news is circling the drain.

They need to learn the same hard lesson that CNN had to learn.

HIRING RIGHT-WINGERS DOES NOT EQUAL HIGHER RATINGS!!!

Since the days of David Gergen the type of republican Washington "insider" who takes such jobs never hesitate to compromise their old principles and opinions to something more agreeable with the DNC party line. See Joe Scarborough.

Ronna will fit in well.

Ugh, these people never lack for jobs.

[quote] MSNBC Staff Join Flood of Complaints Over NBC Hiring GOP’s Ronna McDaniel

NBC News and MSNBC are facing a wave of backlash after hiring former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor on Friday, with some staffers speaking out publicly against the move.

McDaniel has repeatedly attacked the network in the past, calling their journalists “propagandists.” She also promoted false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The hire ignited controversy with some network staffers speaking out, including MSNBC columnist Marisa Kabas who posted on social media an email she sent to NBC News questioning the network’s reasoning and asking for them to reconsider the hire.

“You wrote: ‘It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team.’ As a fellow voice on the team — albeit one far less known, far less powerful, and likely far less compensated — I want to understand what kind of message this is supposed to send to us?” Kabas wrote in the email.

“As columnists we are held to strict standards of factuality and truth, and are expected to have a fundamental understanding of our democracy,” Kabas continued. “McDaniel has proven time and again she adheres to none of those values, and lacks that very basic understanding.”

Another MSNBC columnist, Andrea Grimes “cosigned” the message by simply writing “f–k this.”

The network was one several competing to land the big-name Republican, according to media reporter Brian Stelter. She joins fellow former RNC chair Michael Steele as a commentator at NBC.

In the internal memo announcing the hiring of McDaniel, senior VP of politics Carrie Budoff Brown wrote that “NBC News has a legacy of serving its audience through reporting that reflects and examines the diverse perspectives of American voters … this variety of voices builds on our rigorous reporting and helps bring audiences and voters closer to the thinking and decision making within our halls of power.”

Others outside of the network lambasted the decision across social media.

NBC declined to comment when reached by TheWrap.

I love this Tweet by Wajahat Ali:

[quote] Progressives are seen as too extreme for mainstream media and institutions. But people who spread hate, lies, conspiracies and support a violent insurrection are fine as long as they're conservative. Both sides, you see. Enter Ronna McDaniel at NBC.

Amen to that!

Mehdi Hasan:

[quote] McDaniel lied about the 2020 election result, was involved in a pressure campaign to get Michigan officials not to certify the vote, and has accused MSNBC of “spreading lies” and employing “primetime propagandists.”

Steve Schmidt:

[quote]What a disgusting and cynical decision by @NBCNews and @msnbc for hiring this wretched and lying woman who subverted the Republic by denying an election result in 2020.

[quote] NBC News and MSNBC just immolated their journalistic credibility.

[quote] I spent 10 years as an analyst at MSNBC. Today, I’m ashamed of that for the first time.

[quote] Disgusting.

Ron Filipkowski

[quote] Here is new MSNBC commentator complaining about the 2020 election being stolen.

Steve Schmidt never fails to get my dick hard. This time, with just his words….

[quote] Former RNC chair McDaniel calls January 6 Capitol attack ‘unacceptable’ after years of deflection

McDaniel, who is joining NBC News as a political analyst after exiting the RNC earlier this month, told the outlet that the Capitol riot “doesn’t represent our country. It certainly does not represent my party.”

“We should not be attacking the Capitol; we should not be having violence,” she added. Asked why she didn’t offer such condemnation as RNC chairwoman, McDaniel responded, “When you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team. Right now, I get to be a little bit more myself.”

McDaniel’s RNC exit comes amid a period of rising tensions between Donald Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, and the RNC. Trump and his team had been disappointed with the RNC’s finances, with the committee experiencing one of its most anemic years of fundraising in the last decade.

The former president had also believed that the RNC under McDaniel’s leadership should have done more to fight for his candidacy in the 2020 election, including retaining better lawyers to push the former president’s false claims of rampant voter fraud.

Trump, McDaniel said Sunday, “absolutely wanted me to move aside and wanted Michael Whatley and Lara Trump to come in.”

McDaniel said that while her role required her to remain neutral regarding GOP candidates, tensions rose with the Trump campaign when the former president decided to forgo this cycle’s primary debates.

“We had debates, and there was tension and a little friction that started during that process. It was well played out in the media,” McDaniel said. “And I knew at that point, when I was doing that role, and we were going to have debates, that when the nominee came forward, and it was likely to be President Trump, that they were going to switch and that’s his right as nominee.”

News of McDaniel’s hiring at NBC has drawn sharp backlash. She has a long history of assailing the news media as “fake” and her promotion of false claims around the 2020 elections.

As RNC chair, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”

The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.” The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in a detailed fact check posted online.

McDaniel acknowledged Sunday that Biden won the 2020 election “fair and square” even as she voiced concern over “issues” with the vote. “I believe that both can be true,” she said.

Asked about the criticism of her RNC tenure, and the blame some have placed on her for a slate of Republican losses, McDaniel said, “I push back on that very hard.”

“Under my time as chair, we’ve had more women in Congress ever than in the history of our party … we’ve had more minority growth in our party, and that didn’t just happen.”

NBC chief political analyst Chuck Todd on Sunday publicly slammed the company’s decision to hire Ronna McDaniel in a stunning on-air moment immediately following the former RNC chair’s network debut.

“Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, who previously interviewed McDaniel, during a subsequent panel discussion.

“Look, there’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination,” Todd added.

Meet the Press panelists let McDaniel and NBC have it this morning:

[quote]“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memo to staff.

She should lose her own job over this, but of course, I realize the decision wasn't hers alone.

You know it’s bad when National Review can’t even keep quiet.

I'll stop gaslighting now that the Nazis fired me.

Fuck NBC/MSNBC.

I will not be watching them during this election year.

[quote] Fuck NBC/MSNBC.

[quote] I will not be watching them during this election year.

Why take it out on the other anchors/reporters?

Just don't watch Ronna's show.

The other employees don't have anything to do with this decision, and in fact, they are strongly against her hiring.

Let's see what happens next.

I'm honestly surprised Chuck Todd grew a spine. Then again her hiring is pretty egregious.

[quote] Open Revolt at NBC as ‘Morning Joe’ Joins the Ronna McDaniel Pile-On

The stars of MSNBC’s Morning Joe kicked off Monday by adding their voices to the growing chorus of NBC News journalists publicly chastising the media company for hiring former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a network pundit.

“I know you won’t be surprised to know that we’ve been inundated with calls this weekend, as have most people connected with this network about NBC’s decision to hire her,” co-host Joe Scarborough declared at the top of Monday morning’s broadcast. “We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday.”

The Morning Joe hosts “weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons,” Scarborough continued. According to the former GOP congressman, the main point of contention was the ex-RNC chair’s “role in Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone.”

Scarborough’s co-host and spouse Mika Brzezinski further lashed out at NBC bosses, contending that the overriding issue with McDaniel was her credibility—not her ideology. Additionally, the Morning Joe co-host urged the network to quickly reverse course and part ways with McDaniel.

“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski fumed. “And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor.”

The open revolt by MSNBC’s flagship morning show comes a day after NBC News political director Chuck Todd scathingly rebuked network brass on-air just moments after McDaniel wrapped up her first official network appearance on Meet the Press. Todd also expressed sympathy for his Meet the Press successor Kristen Welker, whom he felt was put in an “impossible situation” by the network.

“Our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told Welker, adding: “There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this. Because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination.”

Todd also said that Welker had “the rug pulled out from under” her because she only found out a couple of days before the interview that McDaniel was “being paid to show up,” something the Meet the Press editor explicitly noted at the top of Sunday’s broadcast.

“This interview was scheduled weeks before it was announced that McDaniel would become a paid NBC News contributor,” she flatly stated. “This will be a news interview, and I was not involved in her hiring.”

During the interview itself, Welker pressed McDaniel on her previous support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, prompting the former RNC head to label Joe Biden the “legitimate” president. At the same time, McDaniel said, “It’s fair to say there were problems in 2020.”

The on-air denouncements from some of the network’s top hosts and journalists will undoubtedly put pressure on other MSNBC personalities to speak out on the issue in an effort to force their bosses’ hand and nix McDaniel’s contract, which is reported to pay the ex-GOP chief $300,000 a year.

The former RNC chair’s comfortable NBC salary, amid sweeping layoffs in the newsroom, is also a point of contention among network staffers. “Across MSNBC they have been cutting contributors,” one host told Politico Playbook. “So everyone’s like, what the fuck? You found 300 for her?”

However, much of the problem appears to lie with the lack of communication between NBC leadership and its news division, mulitiple network sources told The Daily Beast. NBC News executives courted McDaniel and finalized a deal with her without seeking any buy-in from its reporters and anchors, with NBC News executives Carrie Budoff Brown and Rebecca Blumenstein building a good rapport with McDaniel throughout the process.

MSNBC president Rashida Jones, seemingly attempting to quell the backlash at the liberal-leaning channel, reportedly told her staffers over the weekend that “the cable network has no plans to have McDaniel on” its airwaves. This came after Budoff Brown announced the hiring that McDaniel would appear “across all NBC News platforms.”

Jones, though, was reportedly part of the leadership that unanimously supported the McDaniel deal. Furthermore, sources have clarified to other outlets that there is no ban on McDaniel at MSNBC and that each individual show can use her if they choose.

But Todd didn't go nearly far enough. This hiring is absolutely outrageous, and he only said things like it was troubling and questionable.

He's acolyte for the Susan Collins School of Concern.

Honestly, I think Todd and the whole panel were about as blunt as they could be: this was a shitty decision by NBC and NBC should reverse it. In fact, two shitty decisions, hiring her and then not telling everyone before this interview. I really was surprised how close they came to saying exactly that. They were totally right of course, but it is rare to see a network slapped down so publicly by its own employees.

Yes, R27. The blowback has been so severe, I really wouldn't be surprised if NBC reverses their decision -- though I wonder how much they would have to pay McDaniel if they did so. Assuming a contract has already been signed, which I imagine it has been, otherwise there would not yet have been an official announcement.

She'll be gone in a month, much like when they hired harelip Greta Van Susteren. MAGAts aren't going to watch NBC or MSNBC.

I have been a severe critic of Chuck Todd in the past, but he did the right thing yesterday. He was about as blunt as I think that he could have been. The decision to hire her was egregious and should be reversed immediately.

And -- she's ugly!! Who wants to look at that first thing in the morning? Or right before bed, for that matter.

I know! Put her up against Nicole Wallace and let Nicole eviscerate her. Now that I'd watch.

Mika and Joe are pissed overthis

[QUOTE]I know! Put her up against Nicole Wallace and let Nicole eviscerate her. Now that I'd watch.

Exactly my thought, r31. Yeah, banish her from MSNBC but not until a bout with Nicolle. I can just see Nicolle hammering with a question then peering over her reading glasses skeptically as she carefully listens and plans her next question.

Mika? The show’s chief letter turner?

MOON FACED SOW!!!

What time does her show debut tonight?

Won’t be watching that.

Chuck Todd and MSNBC colleagues

Joy Reid is literally doing a whole segment right now trashing this bitch.

[quote]She'll be gone in a month, much like when they hired harelip Greta Van Susteren.

Megyn Kelly too.

[quote]a whole segment right now trashing this bitch

She's just putting the facts out there.

I’m only watching her if it’s a segment where the women of MSNBC line up to kick her in the cunt bone. Despicable MAGA freak.

I bet she'll get along with closet-MAGA Katy Tur.

An MSNBC insider told Fox News Digital that the pushback against McDaniel's hiring was worse than leadership anticipated, and not just from within NBC, and due to that there was discussion about cutting her. Spokespersons for NBC News and MSNBC didn't respond to a request for comment, and McDaniel remains with the network as of Monday.

The source added they'd be glad to see NBC cut McDaniel, saying she has long operated in bad faith, had credibility issues and has engaged in election denial, alluding to her role in helping President Trump's efforts to overturn 2020 election results and rhetoric about that election being unfair.

Watching the war over Roma is like watching the Bolsheviks vs the Trotskyites.

I watched Meet the Press yesterday and McDaniel lied all the way through her interview with Welker and tried to rewrite history to say she didn't say all the things she said and if she did - she didn't mean them or she meant them in a different way than they were received etc. It was a whole load of complete horseshit.

Then afterwards, Chuck Todd let it fucking RIP! It was quite a moment. He obviously has built up feelings about her. The other guests also had a few choice things to say about McDaniel's continual lies and zero credibility. It was like an on-air revolt at the NBC powers that be.

I enjoyed it immensely. More honestly like that please NBC. Best Meet the Press episode for ages.

[quote] I bet she'll get along with closet-MAGA Katy Tur.

They can bond over pegging their husbands and being the bitchiest Karens in line at Starbucks.

Rachel is reading the moon-faced sow for filth right now (in her own polite way).

[quote]They need to learn the same hard lesson that CNN had to learn.

[bold]HAS[/bold] CNN learned that lesson though? Doesn't seem like it because CNN is unwatchable now. It's as bad as Fox News.

Loves me some Rachel!! You go, girl!

She's also my imaginary gf, for what it's worth.

Loved that Rachel segment. Ronna really should pack her bags and go from NBC. Nobody wants to play her reindeer games.

[quote] They can bond over pegging their husbands and being the bitchiest Karens in line at Starbucks.

I can't believe that incredibly hot Tony Dokoupil is married to this bitch.

He's so hot, and she's so... NOT.

She used to be, r53. She was a straight guy's dream, huge tits, engaing and pleasant personality, nice smile, Jennifer Aniston hair. Did I mention the rack? Anyway, any charm she had is slowly evaporating. Odd transformation.

Lawrence is going for her throat!

MSNBC often has Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as a commentator on some of their shows. Benson was the target of various threats during the 2020 election. MAGATs showed up at her house in December 2020 and were yelling at her to go out and show herself to them.

What a fucking slap in the face to Jocelyn Benson, for MSNBC/NBC to hire that piece of shit Ronna Romney McDaniel.

Clip of Jocelyn Benson on MSNBC from months back talking about the Trump and Ronna recordings.

Bye bitch?

I hope that Ronna doesn't get fired.

I'm liking this rebellion by MSNBC staff.

I hope they get Rashida Jones fired, instead!

No one has commented on her first show yet?

Who exactly will be her guests?

She doesn’t have a fucking show!

*NBC regrets this*

Giving in to the Revolutionary Wokers' Committee was the same mistake made by the New York Times several years ago. Then repeated by CNN.

MSNBC apparently thought they were immune.

So when’s the next episode of “Blowback”?

[QUOTE]Revolutionary Wokers' Committee

Explain yourself. You're about the NY Times? 😂

r63 is into bothsiderism, r65.

^"talking about" at r65.

FIRED!