Democracy Dies in Darkness

NBC facing on-air ‘insurrection’ over hiring of Ronna McDaniel

Rachel Maddow, other MSNBC hosts raised on-air objections Monday, saying the former RNC chair’s past support of election-fraud claims should disqualify her as a paid pundit

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Updated March 25, 2024 at 11:13 p.m. EDT|Published March 25, 2024 at 10:10 p.m. EDT
MSNBC hosts from Joe Scarborough to Rachel Maddow lined up on Monday to criticize NBC's decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as paid pundit. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
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A chorus of MSNBC personnel took to the airwaves Monday to voice a stunning public protest of their own company’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

[Update, Tues. 6:30 p.m.: NBC reverses decision to hire McDaniel]

A day after NBC chief political analyst Chuck Todd told “Meet the Press” viewers that McDaniel “has credibility issues that she still has to deal with,” hosts on the network’s cable affiliate — including Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Joe Scarborough, Lawrence O’Donnell and Jen Psaki — echoed the rebuke, citing her support of Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election.