NBC News was hit with widespread criticism for hiring former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a commentator.
McDaniel will make her debut Sunday on "Meet the Press," and she will appear on both NBC and its left-leaning MSNBC cable network whose hosts she decried as "primetime propagandists" less than a year ago, reported the New York Times.
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” said Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News political coverage. "[She will provide] an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.”
McDaniel, who called the Jan. 6 insurrection "legitimate political discourse," will be heavily involved in 2024 campaign coverage, including election nights.
The former RNC chair was selected to head the Republican Party after helping Trump win Michigan in 2016, but she was forced out last month after clashing with the former president, who then installed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and close adviser Michael Whatley to lead the GOP.
McDaniel directly implicated Trump in the fake electors scheme in her testimony before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, and she may be implicated in pressuring local officials not to certify President Joe Biden's election win in Michigan.
Her hiring prompted scathing criticism from social media users.
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"Ronna McDaniel has contempt for American democracy," wrote The Intellectualist. "What value does she bring to NBC News?"
"I defy anyone, especially the editorial staff at @NBCNews, to find any single press conference, press release, or on-air hit where Ronna did NOT spread demonstrable lies to the American public," wrote X user Schrödinger's Litter Box. "That is who NBC just allocated a salary for. Absolutely reprehensible malpractice."
"NBC and MSNBC hired coup participant Ronna McDaniel as a commentator. She had direct conversations w/ Trump, Eastman and Michigan GOP chair Laura Cox about arranging fake electors," added X user Tom Joseph. She could conceivably still be charged w/ a crime. She’s a nonstop liar and propaganda machine about coup events. Heads should roll at NBC."
"NBC News has hired controversial former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel," posted X user Carole Taubman. "What a disgraceful move, @NBCNews. You should not endorse a MAGA liar nor give her a job."
"Hey look @nbcnews just hired somebody worse than [Kristen Welker]: Ronna McDaniel," said former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann. "Make no mistake what this is: all news orgs think 'how do we survive if Trump seizes control and the U.S. goes fascist?' Hiring this POS is their unscrupulous idea of an answer."