MSNBC host Rachel Maddow bashed NBC’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as “inexplicable” — and urged the media giant to “reverse their decision.”
Maddow, the left-leaning network’s highest-paid star, joined a chorus of anchors who have ripped the parent company’s decision to add a staunch defender of Donald Trump for the past seven years.
“The fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News, to me that is inexplicable,” Maddow said during Monday’s broadcast of her weekly primetime show.
“I hope they will reverse their decision,” Maddow added during her monologue, earlier reported on by Mediaite.
Maddow went on to bash McDaniel as “someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government.”
“You wouldn’t hire a made man like a mobster to work at a DA’s office, right? You wouldn’t hire a pick-pocket to work as a TSA screener,” Maddow concluded.
McDaniel was backed by Trump to take over the party apparatus after he won the presidency in 2016.
She stepped down as RNC chair earlier this month amid a Trump-backed leadership shakeup that saw her replaced by Michael Whatley. Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump ascended to party co-chair.
During an interview with MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday ahead of McDaniel’s appearance as an on-air contributor with the network, McDaniel told host Kristen Welker that she can speak more candidly now that she’s no longer the RNC chair.
When asked about Trump’s allegations of election fraud in the last presidential election, McDaniel affirmed that “the reality is Joe Biden won, he’s the president” — while adding, “I continue to say there were issues in 2020” with respect to the way the election was carried out in certain states.
Later in the contentious interview, McDaniel rebuffed suggestions that she couldn’t be trusted ahead of the expected rematch between Trump and Joe Biden..
“I don’t think I’m changing my tone at all,” McDaniel replied when asked about whether she was flop-flopping about Biden being “legitimately elected” as president.
Welker issued a disclaimer before her interview with McDaniel, telling viewers that it was booked before her contract with NBC was announced.
Ahead of the segment, former “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd also slammed the network over the hiring during a panel on the show Sunday, contending McDaniel’s hiring made his successor’s job more difficult.
“There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this,” he said.
MSNBC “morning “Morning Joe” stars Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have since joined the revolt against McDaniel’s hiring, calling her an “anti-democracy election denier.”
“We hope NBC will reconsider its decision” to hire McDaniel, said Brzezinski, who co-hosts the four-hour morning show with her husband, former Congressman Scarborough (R-Fla.).
Brzezinski said the pair will not invite McDaniel on to their air in protest.
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