NBC reverses decision to hire Ronna McDaniel after on-air backlash

The network announced just four days ago that they would be bringing McDaniel on board to provide “expert insights and analysis” on politics. “Now is an important time to have a voice like Rhone’s on the team,” an NBC News executive told employees at the time.

But broadcasters at the company — particularly at MSNBC, NBC’s liberal-leaning cable affiliate — pushed back hard, saying McDaniel’s promotion of media attacks on former President Donald Trump and false claims of election fraud was unfair. She lost her eligibility to hold a position in the news department.

One by one, they delivered that message to their bosses on the radio in front of a live audience on Monday.

“Please wait a minute and admit that maybe this isn’t the right decision,” top MSNBC star Rachel Maddow said on the night. “Admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, not weakness.”

NBC communicated the news of its course change to its employees before notifying McDaniel, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

McDaniel was surprised by her hiring and the backlash over NBC’s handling of the matter, according to two people familiar with the matter. She plans to hire an attorney to handle the contract issues.

The outrage over her appointment underscores the greater difficulty television networks face in hiring experts to offer pro-Trump perspectives without conflicting with viewers and their own staff.

For example, when CBS News hired Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney — another promoter of the former president’s fact-free claims — as a contributor two years ago, staffers objected. He ended up appearing only sporadically on the air, leaving the network after about a year.

However, NBC also hired Marc Short, Trump’s former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, in February without sparking a backlash.

NBC employees argued publicly and privately that their complaints were not about McDaniel’s partisanship but about her behavior.

“To be clear, we believe NBC News should look to conservative Republican voices to maintain balance in election coverage,” co-host Mika Brzezinski told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday stated in the program. “But it should be conservative Republicans, not people using their positions of power to deny an anti-democratic election.”

“We welcome Republican voices,” primetime host Joy Reid added later in the day. “The fact is: this was not a disagreement. She did support an illegal scheme to steal the election in Michigan.”

In a memo to employees, Conde apologized to employees who “feel like we have let them down” and said he took responsibility for the recruiting missteps.

He added that the network remains committed to ideological diversity and “to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek out voices representing different parts of the political spectrum.”

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, told The Washington Post earlier this week that TV producers face a challenging expert supply issues.

“It’s really hard for networks to find loyal Trump supporters to keep the show on the air,” he said. “To do this well, you have to be a serious person. You can’t just be a conspiracy monger and successfully play that role. They tried to find serious people from the Trump world, but they didn’t find a lot of interest.”

CNN also sought to capture the voices of Trump’s supporters during his first presidential campaign and administration. But some pro-Trump contributors, such as Jeffrey Lord, have been heavily criticized, while others have been sidelined amid various controversies and scandals.

McDaniel’s first appearance as a paid contributor came on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” and host Kristen Welker made it clear to viewers that she had no idea when they scheduled the appearance weeks ago , McDaniel would soon become her colleague.

She then grilled her guest in an interview that critics praised for its aggressiveness and rigor.

在節目後期，政治分析家查克·托德對麥克丹尼爾的“可信度”提出了質疑，他告訴韋爾克，“我不知道她給你的任何答案是否是因為她不想搞亂她的contract.“

The backlash intensified on Monday morning when “Morning Joe’s” co-hosts said they would not hire her. Throughout the night’s lineup, MSNBC hosts took turns slamming McDaniel and the decision to hire her, with Maddow calling it “baffling.”

Tate James, the leader of the union that represents several employees, told The Washington Post on Monday that the comments by Todd and the “Morning Joe” host were noteworthy because NBC employees rarely criticize the network. “They’re an NBC organization, and even they saw that the top brass screwed up on this,” he added.

By Tuesday morning, the situation seemed untenable. Even if McDaniel stays with the company, one of its major channels has already said she isn’t welcome there, with MSNBC president Rashida Jones telling her hosts they don’t need to book her.

Network employees and rival media executives agreed that one of NBC’s major failings in the matter was failing to secure the support of network stars before hiring McDaniel.

Had NBC not reversed its decision, the network would have almost certainly faced more criticism on Tuesday night from primetime hosts Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner, who both had Monday nights off.

Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.