Ronna McDaniel likely got NBC gig after securing network a presidential debate: report

Anger against NBC over its hiring of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, much of it coming from the network's top personalities, is continuing to permeate Monday as more people at the network speak out over her hiring.

People within the network are reportedly blowing up text threads and Slack channels over the hiring after a contentious segment on Meet the Press with host Chuck Todd, who ranted on air about McDaniel, saying, “There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this,” and blaming the RNC's alleged habits of “gaslighting” and “character assassination."

According to a report from Politico, network producers and Todd's fellow NBC anchor Kristen Welker knew beforehand that he was going to go on a rant about McDaniel but did not intervene.

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As Politico pointed out, the on-air protests could signal "a seminal moment in political media as news organizations continue to grapple with how to responsibly represent voices from the Trump right on their screens and in their pages without handing their platforms over to election deniers or bad faith actors who have attacked and attempted to discredit their own reporters."

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MSNBC host Joe Scarborough jumped into the fray Monday morning, saying on-air, “We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring but, if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons."

“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," Scarborough said, before playing a highlight reel of McDaniel's various past comments questioning the results of the 2020 election.

Insiders are waiting and watching to see if McDaniel survives the uproar, according to Politico's Ryan Lizza, who adds that McDaniel likely secured the gig after she helped the network land a Republican presidential debate over competing networks.

"Through that process McDaniel built a good rapport with NBC News executives Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics, and Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial. They secured a deal, at a price: McDaniel insisted MSNBC could not simulcast the debate," Lizza writes.

Read the full report over at Politico.

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