MSNBC Doesn’t Plan to Put Ex-RNC Chief Ronna McDaniel on the Network

MSNBC president Rashida Jones told employees that the liberal-leaning news network has no plans to put new NBC News contributor Ronna McDaniel on the cable outlet, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an internal memo.

The news came after NBC News hired the former Republican National Committee chair as an on-air contributor, leading to rage among members of the MSNBC staff that spilled over onto social media.

There have been questions internally around whether McDaniel would appear on MSNBC. Several staffers spoke out, including columnist Marisa Kabas. She posted an email she’d sent to NBC News management on social media questioning McDaniel’s hire.

“I want to understand what kind of message this is supposed to send to us?” Kabas wrote in the email. “As columnists we are held to strict standards of factuality and truth, and are expected to have a fundamental understanding of our democracy. McDaniel has proven time and again she adheres to none of those values, and lacks that very basic understanding.”

The network had previously said that McDaniel would appear across all NBC News platforms, which include MSNBC, but the memo appears to indicate there’s at least no immediate plan for her to be a contributor on the network. Of course, plans change and there are still more than seven months until the general election, so whether McDaniel will appear on MSNBC at some point during this election cycle remains to be seen.

McDaniel is set to debut in her new role this Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” That’s also set to be her first interview since leaving the RNC as McDaniel, niece of Sen. Mitt Romney, was replaced by Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.

Those who objected to McDaniel’s hiring included several MSNBC on-air hosts and other staffers, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources. Their concerns include McDaniel’s history of supporting Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was stolen.

If NBC had not hired McDaniel, she likely would have ended up at one of their competitors, as there were several networks competing to land her following the recent RNC shake-up. She’s also not the only former RNC chair who regularly appears on NBC News programming, as Michael Steele is a regular commentator on MSNBC.

McDaniel’s hiring has also faced pushback from media critics, including journalism professor Jeff Jarvis of the City University of New York’s journalism school.

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