RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks during a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in 2020 in Washington.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
NBC’s newest contributor hire is earning backlash — even from the network’s own talent.
Ronna McDaniel, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, has been hired by the news network, according to a statement from Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News’ Senior Vice President of Politics.
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Brown said in a statement to staffers.
But McDaniel’s new co-workers have quickly taken to broadcast to express their concerns.
In a conversation with Meet the Pressmoderator Kristen Welker, NBC’s chief political analyst Chuck Todd said their bosses owe Welker an apology after she spoke to McDaniel in a previous segment.
“She is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn’t want to mess up her contract,” Todd continued, adding that McDaniel has “credibility issues that she still has to deal with.”
“There’s a reason why there are 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 said during the show on Sunday.
Rachel Maddow also expressed criticism of the network’s choice on her Monday night show, telling viewers, “I find the decision to put her on the payroll inexplicable and I hope [NBC] will reconsider that decision.”
McDaniel announced in February that she would be stepping down from her post as RNC chair in early March — the first woman to ever hold the title.
“It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve the Republican National Committee for seven years as Chairwoman to elect Republicans and grow our Party,” McDaniel said in a statement announcing her departure.
Following the 2020 election, McDaniel, a Trump ally, said that she believed that the position was stolen from the former president by President Biden — which has been proven to be false.
“I don’t think he won it fair, I don’t. I’m not going to say that,” she told CNN’s Chris Wallace on what she called a “rigged” election.
