As my colleague Jennifer Van Laar reported, former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel was hired by NBC and was also expected to provide political commentary on MSNBC. The political chief, Carrie Budoff Brown, said McDaniel would contribute “across all NBC News platforms.”
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News political coverage, wrote in a memo, adding that Ms. McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” Ms. McDaniel will be especially involved in the coverage of the 2024 campaign, including election nights.
Read More: Ronna McDaniel Makes Her Next Move, and It's So Predictable
But the hiring resulted in a mammoth leftist meltdown all over the X platform.
How much were they losing their minds? It would be difficult to calculate with existing technology, they were so mad.
It was actually pretty funny; the tantrums were massive. Our friends over at Twitchy found some great examples, and of course, some, like the execrable Keith Olbermann, were even calling for a boycott.
BREAKING: NBC reportedly offered Satan a lucrative contract to serve as on-air political commentator.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) March 24, 2024
The ruler of the underworld reportedly turned down the position, saying "I can't in good conscience work alongside Ronna McDaniel. When it comes to evil, even I have my limits." pic.twitter.com/Z8JjYmkSK6
It's not enough for viewers to boycott @nbcnews and @msnbc over this Raised Finger hiring of Ronna McDaniel
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) March 23, 2024
If you're a guest or contributor to either network, you're going to have to say no (especially since the hosts and anchors are again mortally silent over this) pic.twitter.com/ojBX2aZOKt
This reflected the opinion of many on the left weighing in.
Hey @MSNBC, I’m giving you fair warning that I’ll change the channel the second I see Ronna McDaniel appear on any of your broadcasts. And I bet I’m not the only viewer who feels that way. pic.twitter.com/1QGlP7lj6w
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) March 22, 2024
According to the Wall Street Journal, this resulted in "turmoil among several of the network’s on-air hosts and staffers, people familiar with the matter said," and "a number of MSNBC anchors and producers have voiced concern."
So it sounds like someone at MSNBC caved to the backlash.
It's pretty hilarious that any of these folks are upset about McDaniel, but they're cool with the things like Russia collusion that MSNBC has spewed out over the years.
Now, MSNBC president Rashida Jones is saying that "according to people familiar with the conversations," they don't expect McDaniel to provide commentary on MSNBC.
NBC doesn't seem to have backed out yet. They're still planning on having her on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, so the backlash doesn't seem to have affected her position there yet. We'll have to see how it shakes out.
Read More:
REPORT: After Trump Saw RedState's Reporting on Ronna McDaniel, He Asked Her to Resign From the RNC
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