NBC News cut ties March 26 with former Republican National Committee chief Ronna McDaniel less than a week after hiring her as an on-air political contributor, a decision that followed a furious protest by some of its journalists and commentators.
In announcing the decision in a memo, NBC Universal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde apologized to staff members who felt let down by the hire, acknowledging he had signed off on it.
“No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal,” Mr. Conde said. But he said the network remained committed to centering “voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum.”
There was no immediate comment from Ms. McDaniel, who stepped down as RNC leader just over two weeks ago. She found out she lost her job through media reports, not from NBC directly, said a person close to her who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
A quick change of heart
NBC announced March 22 that Ms. McDaniel would contribute commentary across network platforms. It said it wanted the perspective of someone with inside knowledge about the Republican Party and former President Donald Trump heading into the 2024 election, in which Mr. Trump is seeking a second term.
The response from journalists and others within the network was swift – and public. Former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd criticized his bosses on the air March 24 for the hire, saying he didn’t know what to believe from her after she supported former President Donald Trump in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” following the 2020 election.
An extraordinary succession of MSNBC hosts – Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, and Lawrence O’Donnell – all publicly protested the decision to hire Ms. McDaniel on their shows March 25.
Republicans countered that the protest indicates that people at NBC News, particularly at MSNBC, were unwilling to countenance opposing viewpoints. The hiring, and quick firing, represents one of those rare instances likely to unite the left and right – in anger. “NBC caving in to the censors,” Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly Twitter, posted on his platform.
On his Truth Social site, Mr. Trump said, “These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY, and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK.”
Those who protested her hiring claimed that it wasn’t because Ms. McDaniel is a Republican, but it was because she helped promote Mr. Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election and assisted in efforts to overturn the results.
Hiring politicians to comment on the news has a history
Efforts by news organizations to hire former politicians is hardly new. NBC News hired Ms. Psaki directly from her job as press secretary to President Joe Biden, and another former Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, hosts a weekend show on MSNBC.
But there are concerns that the episode with Ms. McDaniel may make it difficult for networks to find voices this year that can provide insight into Mr. Trump and his campaign. Former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebius is an ABC News contributor and Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications director during the Trump administration, is a CNN commentator.
Mr. Conde said that NBC News remains committed to the principle that there must be diverse voices on the network. “And to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum.”
Ms. McDaniel’s tenure at NBC may have lasted less than a week, but a mess surrounding it could last much longer. She was dropped March 26 by Creative Artists Agency, who she hired to negotiate her TV deal, and has been consulting with lawyers since learning that deal had ended.
The succession of MSNBC stars who denounced Ms. McDaniel and the hiring reached its apogee during the weekly show by Ms. Maddow, the network’s most popular personality who spent nearly half an hour on the issue. She called her hiring by NBC News “inexplicable.”
Ms. Maddow appeared March 26 on Ms. Reid’s show. Ms. Reid said she was grateful for the decision to oust Ms. McDaniel, and Ms. Maddow echoed that.
“To see essentially the unanimous feeling among all the journalists … and all of the senior staff and producers and everybody in this building about this was one thing,” she said. “Then to see the executives and the leadership hear that and respond to it and be willing to change course … I have deep respect for that.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
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