(ReliableNews.org) – NBC News recently announced Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman, was going to work for the network as a political analyst. The network’s anchors were outraged and spoke out against her hiring. Now she’s been axed.
On Tuesday, March 26, Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, sent a memo to staff and apologized for hiring McDaniel. He said the company had severed its relationship with the former high-ranking national Republican. The executive told his staff that he understands no organization “can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned,” and it was clear to him that hiring McDaniel “undermin[ed] that goal.”
The decision to fire McDaniel came after a rare on-air revolt from some of the biggest names on the network. On Monday, MSNBC’s star anchor, Rachel Maddow, dedicated the first half of her show to ripping McDaniel apart. She brought up the former RNC’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to keep former President Donald Trump in power. She called NBCUniversal’s decision to hire the Republican “inexplicable” and compared it to a district attorney hiring a mobster.
Former “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd also slammed his network for the hire. He said there were a lot of journalists at the company who weren’t comfortable with the decision. Todd’s remarks came after McDaniel debuted on the network in an interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” He told Welker that their bosses owed her an apology.
Todd also said McDaniel had “credibility issues.”
In his announcement, Conde told his team that he wanted to “personally apologize” for hiring McDaniel. He said he initially made the decision to hire her because of the company’s alleged commitment to offering the audience a “wide diverse set of viewpoints and experiences” and promised to continue doing that.
Various media outlets have reported that McDaniel might sue NBC.
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