NBC is in hot water after it decided to hire former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst for its ‘Meet the Press’ show following her exit from the official position. It didn’t take long for the news outlet to regret its decision and even make an about-turn. Four days after the hire, Macdaniel was thrown out by the cornered media after facing intense backlash from the public.
McDaniel, Trump alley and former chair of the Republican National Committee has been accused of backing Trump’s 2020 election fraud lie. She had pressured election officials in her home state of Michigan not to certify Joe Biden’s victory. She was also critiqued for repeatedly and publicly trashing the press. The voter fraud allegation was later proven a lie and this was testified to by the expert the Trump campaign had hired to investigate the matter. Justifiably, inviting a “liar” as a paid contributor for election commentary has put the integrity and reputation of NBC in jeopardy.
NBCUniversal News Chief Defends Controversial Hiring
NBCUniversal News chief Cesar Conde tried to offer an explanation by stating that the network is seeking “a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experience, particularly during these consequential times.” Netizens have humorously, or not, likened the situation to getting OJ Simpson to comment on domestic violence and Putin as a commentator on the Ukraine war.
Exposing the political chameleon inside her, McDaniel crossed over on the show admitting that the election was a fair play. Further, she condemned the violence at the 2021 US capitol siege for the first time calling it “unacceptable”. Her defense for the delayed confession was that she “had to take one for the whole team” while in office, whereas, she got to be a little bit more of herself now that she is out of it. This unabashed comment surely did not go down well with the public.
Trump Takes a Dig at McDaniel and NBC Commenting on X
The then President Donald Trump was quick to add insult to injury by hitting back at her for going out of her way to “say what they wanted to hear” and landing herself in “a very strange place” which he called the “NEVER NEVERLAND”. He also did not shy away from calling NBC “weak” and the radical left “lunatic” and “crazy” in his X (former Twitter) post.
Unsurprisingly, the fallen election denialist is irked and has sworn to sue NBC for defamation. Her lawyer has stated that they will demand to be compensated twice the yearly contract amount of $30,000. This will be a heavy price for the television network to pay for the 20-minute air time she got on the first and only day of her appearance.
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But more importantly, NBC and its sister network MSNBC will be tasked with recovering its damaged reputation and credibility. This will not be a park walk for the team. While they have admitted that they messed up, they have yet to issue an apology to the citizens they have betrayed. The responsibility is huge and the lesson for all media networks is even bigger.
And the question is not just about Ronna McDaniel or Trump, but also about the tradition of networks bringing in unqualified partisans under the ruse of inclusivity for opposing political parties and differing views. However, inducting a notorious and disreputed figure like McDaniel has done NBC more harm than good. It is safe to assume that NBC will have lost its credibility among the Leftists they betrayed with their misdirected enthusiasm and now, the trust of Republicans as a whole, if they ever had it previously.