Source:
Jamie
McCarthy
/
Getty
NBC
News
is
facing
a
public
revolt
by
its
on-air
personalities
including
Rachel
Maddow
over
the
hiring
of
former
RNC
Chair
Ronna
McDaniel.
The
hiring
of
Ronna
McDaniel,
the
former
Republican
National
Committee
chairwoman
by
NBC
News
and
Comcast
last
week
has
caused
a
visible
backlash,
becoming
more
apparent
as
several
of
the
on-air
personalities
made
it
a
point
to
decry
her
hiring,
with
its
star
anchor
Rachel
Maddow
expressing
her
displeasure
on
her
show
Monday
night
(March
25).
“I
want
to
associate
myself
with
all
my
colleagues,
both
at
MSNBC
and
NBC
News,
who
have
voiced
loud
and
principled
objections
to
our
company
putting
on
the
payroll
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,”
she
during
the
29-minute
opening
monologue.
“Someone
who
still
is
trying
to
convince
Americans
that
this
election
stuff,
it
doesn’t
really
work.”
Maddow
would
implore
her
bosses
to
reconsider.
“It
is
a
sign
of
strength,
not
weakness,
to
acknowledge
when
you
are
wrong,”
she
said,
adding:
“It
is
a
sign
of
strength.
And
our
country
needs
us
to
be
strong
now.”
McDaniel
resigned
as
the
head
of
the
RNC
at
the
behest
of
the
presumptive
nominee
and
former
President
Donald
Trump.
McDaniel
has
been
under
fire
for
parroting
his
false
claims
that
the
2020
presidential
election
was
stolen.
When
appearing
on
Meet
The
Press
with
host
Kristin
Welker
on
Sunday
(March
24),
McDaniel
seemed
to
walk
that
back.
“Fair
and
square,
he
won,”
Ms.
McDaniel
replied
when
asked
about
the
election
by
Welker,
but
adding,
“I
do
think
it’s
fair
to
say
there
were
problems
in
2020.”
That
led
to
Chuck
Todd
denouncing
the
decision
in
a
post-segment
panel.
Reportedly,
McDaniel
is
set
to
earn
$300,000
in
the
deal.
Numerous
employees
at
NBC
News
and
MSNBC
have
also
reportedly
expressed
their
outrage
at
McDaniel’s
hiring.
Maddow
would
also
be
joined
by
Lawrence
O’Donnell
of
The
Last
Word,
capping
off
an
entire
day
of
rebuke
that
began
with
Joe
Scarborough
and
Mika
Brzezinski,
stating
that
McDaniel
would
not
be
on
their
program
as
a
“paid
contributor.”
That
sentiment
was
echoed
by
Joy
Reid,
Jen
Psaki,
and
Nicole
Wallace
who
said
the
hiring
“wittingly
or
unwittingly”
was
a
signal
to
election
deniers
of
the
approval
of
McDaniel’s
past
actions.
There
has
been
no
public
comment
from
MSNBC
boss
Rashida
Jones,
NBC
News
Chairman
Cesar
Conde,
or
McDaniel.
