MSNBC host Rachel Maddow slammed NBC’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as “incomprehensible” and urged the media giant to “reverse its decision.”
Maddow, the left-leaning network’s highest-paid star, joins a chorus of anchors who have defeated their parent company’s decision to add Donald Trump’s staunch defenders over the past seven years.
“The fact that Mr. McDaniel is an employee of NBC News is puzzling to me,” Maddow said during Monday’s broadcast of his prime-time show.
“I hope they reverse the decision,” Maddow added in the monologue, it was reported earlier. mediaite.
Maddow went on to accuse McDaniel of “not only attacking us as a journalist, but being part of an ongoing project to dismantle our system of government.”
“You wouldn’t hire a criminal, like a gangster, to work in the DA’s office, right? You wouldn’t hire a pickpocket to work as a TSA screener,” Maddow concluded.
McDaniel took over the party machine with support from Trump after he was elected president in 2016.
She stepped down as RNC chair earlier this month amid a leadership shakeup backed by President Trump, and was replaced by Michael Whatley. President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has been named party co-chair.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, ahead of McDaniel’s appearance as an on-air contributor on the network, McDaniel told host Kristen Welker that the RNC committee He said he can speak more frankly now that he has resigned as chief.
When asked about President Trump’s allegations of election fraud in the last presidential election, McDaniel declared, “The reality is that Joe Biden won, and he is the president.” “We continue to say that there was a problem,” he added. Elections were held in specific states.
Later in the controversial interview, McDaniel rejected suggestions that he could not be trusted ahead of the expected rematch between President Trump and President Biden.
Asked whether Biden was overturning his status as the “legally elected” president, McDaniel responded, “I don’t think he’s changing his tone at all.” Ta.
Welker issued a disclaimer before his interview with McDaniel, telling viewers it was booked before McDaniel’s deal with NBC was announced.
Ahead of this segment, former “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd also criticized the network over the hiring, arguing on Sunday’s panel that hiring McDaniel makes his replacement’s job more difficult.
“There’s a reason why a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” he said.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” stars Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski later joined in the revolt against McDaniel’s hiring, calling him an “anti-democratic election denier.”
Brzezinski, who co-hosts the four-hour morning show with her husband, former Rep. Scarborough (R-Fla.), said she “hopes that NBC will reconsider its decision” to hire McDaniel. he said.
Mr. Brzezinski said the two would not invite Mr. McDaniel on the air in protest.
