NBC Dumps McDaniel After 4 Days

Hire of former RNC head caused furious backlash from presenters
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 26, 2024 6:26 PM CDT
NBC Dumps McDaniel After 4 Days
Then-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel speaks before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Predictions Tuesday that the end was nigh for Ronna McDaniel at NBC News turned out to be correct. The network, facing open mutiny from presenters and other employees, announced Tuesday evening that it is cutting its ties with the former head of the Republican National Committee. "There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group. After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor," NBCUniversal Group chairman Cesar Conde said in an email to staff, per NBC. "I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down," Conde said.

"No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned," he said. The announcement from Conde comes just four days after the network announced that McDaniel had been hired as a paid contributor, saying she would bring " an insider's perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party." Conde told employees Tuesday that McDaniel was hired "because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences" and said NBC will now step up efforts "to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum."

The decision to hire McDaniel was slammed by some of the company's biggest names, including MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, and they would "almost certainly" have been joined by Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner Tuesday night if the decision hadn't been reversed, the Washington Post reports. Presenters including Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski said their problem wasn't with McDaniel's party affiliation, it was with her support of Trump's election fraud claims and attacks on the media. (More Ronna McDaniel stories.)

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