‘Morning Joe’ Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Hope NBC “Will Reconsider” Ronna McDaniel Hire

The fallout continues at NBC News over the hiring of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.

On Monday morning, MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski weighed in on her hiring as a political analyst, saying that they had been “inundated with calls” about the controversial move.

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“We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday,” Scarborough said to viewers.

“We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons,” he continued, discussing her role in the aftermath of the 2020 Election to pressure election officials.

“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage,” Brzeznski continued. “But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier, and we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor.”

A source told The Hollywood Reporter that MSNBC president Rashida Jones told anchors and executive producers at the cable channel that they retain full editorial control of their shows, and are under no obligation to book McDaniel, though she may appear on the cable channel should a show request a booking.

The comments from Scarborough and Brzezinski (they followed those comments with an interview with Jon Meacham, who said “taking one for the team is the problem because the team is not as important as the rule of law, the Constitution”) came a day after former Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd ripped into McDaniel’s hiring on the NBC Sunday show, telling Kristen Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”

“There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, had been met with character assassination,” he continued.

McDaniel was a frequent critic of the media, including NBC News and MSNBC as the leader of the RNC, and past comments from her have been making the rounds since her hire was announced Friday.

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