MSNBC primetime host Rachel Maddow criticized her own network over its hiring of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and called on NBC News to reverse its decision.
Maddow, MSNBC’s highest-rated anchor, began her show with a nearly 30-minute monologue blasting the network’s decision as “inexplicable.”
“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 said. “Someone who still is trying to convince Americans that this election stuff, it doesn’t really work.”
“If you care what I think about this, the fact that McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News, to me that is inexplicable,” Maddow said during her show on Monday evening. “You wouldn’t hire a wise guy … a made man, like a mobster, to work in a DA’s office. You wouldn’t hire a pickpocket to work as a TA screener. And so, I find the decision to put her on the payroll inexplicable, and and I hope they will reverse their decision.”
On Friday, news broke that McDaniel would join NBC News as a conservative political correspondent on a nearly $300,000-a-year contract. The hire triggered a backlash of harsh criticism from within the network as some of the country’s top hosts and anchors lambasted their employer on its own airwaves.
Sunday’s broadcast began with an interview with the ex-RNC Chair by host Kristen Welker — prior to the interview, Welker gave a brief disclaimer, saying: “This will be a news interview, and I was not involved in her hiring.”
After the segment wrapped, while seated across from Welker, NBC’s Chuck Todd blasted network executives. “Let me deal with the elephant in the room: I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” the former Meet the Press moderator told the host.
On Monday’s show, Maddow implored NBC News to “take a minute, acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call,” adding, “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong.”