By Ronna Romney McDaniel has a new job. The former leader of the Republican National Committee has cashed out and taken a job as a commentator–at MSNBC.
McDaniel, the niece of Mitt Romney, led the Republican National Committee from 2017 until her ouster earlier in the month.
The New York Times explained:
The hire adds a reliably conservative voice to NBC’s stable of political analysts. Ms. McDaniel is also expected to provide commentary on MSNBC, NBC’s left-leaning cable cousin and a network that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies often accuse of being an arm of the Democratic Party.
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News political coverage, wrote in a memo, adding that Ms. McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” Ms. McDaniel will be especially involved in the coverage of the 2024 campaign, including election nights.
She was selected by Mr. Trump to lead the Republican Party after she spearheaded his 2016 presidential campaign victory in Michigan. As party chairwoman, she occasionally clashed with Mr. Trump. Last year, he complained about her decision to sponsor multiple Republican presidential primary debates, one of which was hosted by NBC, with Mr. Trump’s rivals.
Other prominent Republican commentators at NBC News include Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, and Brendan Buck, a former top aide to Paul Ryan and John Boehner. NBC’s Democratic commentators include former Senator Claire McCaskill and David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s former campaign manager.
During the Republican presidential primary, several candidates criticized McDaniel for promoting a “culture of losing.” Following Trump’s win in 2016, the GOP has underperformed every election.
The announcement was met with consternation by both conservatives and liberals. To conservatives, it revealed “a uniparty” where both insiders of the GOP and Democrats are merely just liberals supporting the same cause.
For liberals, the move threatened to burst their bubble and the warmth and comfort of having someone at MSNBC tell them what they want to hear.
The Wrap reported that “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.
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.’”
Other liberal commentators jumped in, as well.
Hiring Ronna McDaniel is a terrible decision. Having a range of views is useful. But hiring a proven serial liar is disastrous. NBC is and must be, first and foremost, in the credibility business. She will compromise that every time she appears on air. She cannot be trusted. https://t.co/oD2rhesDKE
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) March 22, 2024
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.
NBC News and MSNBC just immolated their journalistic credibility.
I spent 10 years as an analyst at MSNBC.…
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) March 22, 2024
The former RNC leader will make her NBC debut on Sunday’s Meet the Press, and will appear on NBC, MSNBC and NBC News Now programming.
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