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NBC News Dumps Ronna McDaniel After Staff Revolt

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  March 26, 2024 7:30 PM

NBC News dumped Ronna McDaniel days after being hired following a staff revolt. You saw the first vestiges when Chuck Todd went on a tirade against the hiring over the weekend, saying that the network's credibility was at stake for such a hire. This screed comes from a man who hosted Hillary Clinton fundraisers. As others noted, Jen Psaki negotiated her contract with MSNBC while still serving as Biden’s White House press secretary. Did George Stephanopoulos have any journalism experience when ABC News hired him? No. The hypocrisy is not lost on anyone. 

Todd even doubled down, saying this isn’t about ideology when it clearly is, but that’s moot now. McDaniel is gone, and while she had her faults, the reasoning is soaked in partisan nonsense. Even Chris Cuomo, who is no fan of Republicans, couldn’t stomach the hypocrisy: 

McDaniel must go, but lying Jen Psaki, who peddled Russian collusion nonsense, can stay. Other reporters at NBC News have done the same, but this ostracization of McDaniel is about protecting the network’s integrity. It’s laughable. Also, damn, NBC News for making me defend McDaniel, who should have been replaced many cycles ago as she ran the Republican National Committee into the ground. 

Newsbusters clipped Psaki’s monologue about McDaniel’s hiring yesterday. The nerve of this woman: 


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You may have seen some news over the last few days about the hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as an NBC News contributor. And some, mainly in the right-wing ecosystem, have made the comparison to others who have come from government or politics into the media- including me. And that is a comparison I felt like I had to address.

I got into public service for the same reason that many people do. To serve the American people. I worked on my first political campaign when I was just 24 years old. When I was 28, I packed my bags and moved to Chicago to work for Barack Obama. He wanted to make the country a better place, and I wanted to help him. 

I wanted to work on behalf of the American people to try and make their lives better. That's why I did campaigns and a few years later, I would do the same thing for President Biden when I went to work for him in the White House. I was in the room for tough debates, for difficult decisions, for the messy and at times, incredibly grueling process of governing. And that experience is something that I am extremely proud to bring to this table and to this network. And there are many others who have followed a similar path who I have a great deal of respect for. But here's the thing. That kind of experience only matters and only has value to viewers, all of you, if it is paired with honesty and with good faith. Those qualities are especially important right now at a time when our institutions are under attack and when our democracy is in danger. And our democracy is in danger because of the lies that people like Ronna McDaniel have pushed on this country. 

To quote Liz Cheney, “Ronna facilitated Trump's corrupt fake elector plot and his effort to pressure Michigan officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome. She spread his lies and called January 6th ‘legitimate political discourse’”. Look, this isn't about Republicans versus Democrats. 

This isn’t about Red versus Blue. This is about truth versus lies. Service to the country versus service to one man committed to toppling our democratic system. That is the kind of experience that Ronna McDaniel brings to the table. 

Others have called McDaniel a domestic terrorist—this is out of control. McDaniel was a bad RNC chair, but let’s not lose sight of what NBC News’ little tantrum was about—it wasn’t about the truth. It was about Red versus Blue, Republican versus Democrat. The only GOP members acceptable on the NBC payroll are soft Democrats and DC swamp types. NBC News may try to spin this as some stand for integrity when everyone, even hardcore progressives, see through the sham.