NBC News announced today that it has hired former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairperson Ronna McDaniel as an on-air political analyst. McDaniel recently resigned and was replaced by North Carolina RNC chair Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott responded to the announcement on X: “Just gobsmacked that NBC News thinks there’s a benefit to their viewers to pay Ronna McDaniel, who propagated Trump’s criminal efforts to overturn the 2020 election, to commentate on the 2024 election.”
[Note: In a video deposition presented to the House Select Committee on the January 6 attacks on the Capitol, McDaniel revealed that, at the request of Trump and lawyer John Eastman, she had the RNC help organize fake electors for the Trump fake electors plot, as reported by CNBC.]
McDermott added: “These sweetheart deals irreparably damage media credibility and sow distrust.”
Just gobsmacked that @NBCNewsPR thinks there’s a benefit to their viewers to pay Ronna McDaniel, who propagated Trump’s criminal efforts to overturn the 2020 election, to commentate on the 2024 election.
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) March 22, 2024
Fellow Democratic political pundit Keith Olbermann (formerly with MSNBC) chimed in: “Hey look NBC just hired somebody worse than Kristen Welker: Ronna McDaniel Make no mistake what this is: all news orgs think ‘how do we survive if Trump seizes control and the U.S. goes fascist?’ Hiring this POS is their unscrupulous idea of an answer.”