RNC weighs limiting NBC’s access at this summer’s convention

The Republican National Committee is weighing whether to restrict NBC’s access to this summer’s convention, following the network’s decision to drop former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as a contributor.

Such a move would mark a dramatic escalation in the growing rift between Donald Trump-allies and the TV network — a rift that has stemmed from NBC’s decision to part ways with McDaniel amid a revolt among top on-air talent.

“We are taking a hard look at what this means for NBC’s participation at the convention,” said Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for the RNC and the Trump campaign. “Our priority is making sure this is a world class event that allows President Trump to feature his message and vision in a fair way.”

An NBC spokesperson declined comment.

But any attempt to restrict the network’s access at the convention would likely engender strong pushback from top brass there, as well as organizations tasked with representing the media and, potentially, rival journalists and outlets.

The RNC did not further elaborate on what “a hard look” meant. But a major showdown with the press at the biggest political event of the election cycle could prove to be an unwanted distraction for Republicans. That is especially true for a presidential nominee who takes heavy interest in the media coverage he receives.

The RNC has followed through on threats to TV networks before, including cutting out NBC from hosting a debate in the 2016 primary. But the summer convention is a far bigger stage with much larger electoral consequences.

It’s also not certain how much control the committee possesses over media access to the convention. The event requires the coordination of the Republican Party, convention hall officials, and local and state authorities. And congressional press gallery officials, not the RNC, run the credentialing process for access to the convention hall.

Rob Zatkowski, the Director of the House Periodical Press Gallery, said that the RNC, which was recently taken over by Trump allies, did not have actual control over which outlets can be credentialed for the convention.

“[If] the publication is credentialed on Capitol Hill, and one of the parties asked that the publication not be credentialed for the convention, we would credential the publication anyway. To my knowledge this has never happened before,” said Zatkowski.

But two people familiar with the RNC’s planning said the committee would control access to the perimeter around the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the convention is taking place. The RNC, they said, could restrict access to space for live shots, the transportation it plans to run and hotel space it is overseeing.

During the 2016 campaign, the House Periodical Gallery, which ran credentialing that year, said it would refuse any potential order from the Trump operation to bar outlets from convention access. The Trump campaign at various points in that campaign declined to credential certain outlets, including POLITICO, to Trump’s events, though it ultimately did not try to block any of them from attending the convention.

While Alvarez said that the committee was looking at NBC’s “participation” at the convention, the RNC’s new chair, Michael Whatley, stressed on Thursday that the committee wanted to keep engaging with a wide array of outlets, including the network’s cable division, MSNBC.

“I think we want to be able to use every single available outlet to get our message out to the American people,” Whatley told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, who was formerly a host on MSNBC. “But people are not going to go on a network that they can’t trust, that they know they won’t be treated fairly. So I think you’re going to see that across the board. We know that we need to find alternative ways to talk to the American voters. We can’t just stay still. We can’t just stop. We have to be able to communicate.”

NBC is expected to have one of the larger media footprints at the conventions this year. And in an effort to expand its roster of Trump-allied voices, the network announced last week that it was hiring McDaniel, who had served as RNC chair for the duration of Trump’s presidency before being effectively removed from the post by Trump himself.

But the decision sparked a sharp public rebuke from others at the network. NBC News political director Chuck Todd called out network executives while appearing on the “Meet the Press” on Sunday, just minutes after McDaniel had appeared on the program for an interview. Other hosts followed suit, arguing that McDaniel’s roles in questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election (she conceded on "Meet the Press" that it was won fairly by Joe Biden) and support for Trump in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riot, made her presence on their airwaves impossible.

After further pushback from NBC employees — and liberal-leaning MSNBC host Rachel Maddow — host the outlet fired McDaniel on Monday.

Republicans have pointedly criticized NBC for the decision. That includes Trump.

“It appears that it’s up to Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow as to whether NBC will participate in the convention since we just learned that NBC is held hostage by their ‘talent,’” Alvarez said.