NBC News recently announced that Ronna McDaniel, who resigned from her position as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) earlier this month, will be joining the network as an on-air contributor.
As a result of this recruitment, NBC’s group of political commentators now includes a voice that is known as a Republican advocate. MSNBC is NBC’s cable cousin and a network that former President Donald Trump has frequently accused of being supportive of the Democratic Party. Ms. McDaniel is also expected to contribute comments on MSNBC.
“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. She went on to add that Ms. McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.”
Former NBC News “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd criticized his network on March 24 for hiring Ms. McDaniel.
In an interview on his former show, Mr. Todd said McDaniel “has credibility issues that she has to deal with: Is she speaking for herself or is she speaking on behalf of who is paying for her?”
Todd said many NBC journalists are uncomfortable with the hiring because some of their professional dealings with the RNC during McDaniel’s tenure “have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination.”
Ms. McDaniel announced late in February that she would be leaving her post as RNC Chair on March 8.
Before her resignation was officially accepted, the outgoing chair delivered a passionate speech at the general session of the RNC Spring Meeting on March 8 in Houston, Texas. She urged unity behind former President Trump and his second-term plans for America.
Ms. McDaniel, referring to President Joe Biden as a “disaster” for America, argued that Republicans should unite behind President Trump and his stated priorities. Those priorities, she said, consist of combating inflation, reversing President Biden’s “open borders” policies, and addressing the issue of crime.
The reason for her resignation, she said, is that President Trump “deserves to have the team he wants in place” at the helm of the RNC, since he called for a leadership shakeup in mid-February.
This address was delivered shortly after President Trump’s resounding victory in the Republican primaries that took place on Super Tuesday, March 5. The former president won 14 of the 15 Republican contests, putting him in a strong position to secure the great majority of the 865 convention delegates that were available.
The following day, former South Carolina governor and President Trump’s lone remaining Republican opponent, Nikki Haley, withdrew from the race, and the Republican National Committee officially recognized President Trump as their “presumptive” nominee for the 2024 presidential contest. He must officially have 1,215 delegates in order to be nominated.
With President Trump’s Super Tuesday win solidifying his position as the presumed nominee, the leadership shakeup within the Republican National Committee became clear. Midway through February, President Trump demanded a shakeup at the Republican National Committee, suggesting that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, take over as co-chair and endorsing Michael Whatley for the position of chairman.
“The RNC MUST be a good partner in the presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national party and do it flawlessly,” President Trump said in a statement at the time.
During the RNC’s meeting on March 8, Mr. Whatley—who was chair of the North Carolina Republican Party—was chosen to succeed Ms. McDaniel as chair, and Ms. Lara Trump was selected to serve as co-chair.
Ms. McDaniel concluded her remarks by saying, “President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC. When I made the decision to step aside, there was no one else I supported to be the next chair more than Michael Whatley.”
