MSNBC Staffers Having A Hissy Fit

A chorus of MSNBC personnel took to the airwaves Monday to voice a stunning public protest of their own company’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor, reports The Washington Post.

Rachel Maddow

A day after NBC chief political analyst Chuck Todd told “Meet the Press” viewers that McDaniel “has credibility issues that she still has to deal with,” hosts on the network’s cable affiliate — including Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Joe Scarborough, Lawrence O’Donnell and Jen Psaki — echoed the rebuke, citing her support of Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election.

“NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace said on her show Monday afternoon.

“Our democracy is in danger because of the lies that people like Ronna McDaniel have pushed on this country,” Psaki said during MSNBC’s 8 p.m. hour.

Maddow, MSNBC’s top-rated star, devoted the first block of her show to addressing the “inexplicable” hiring. She described McDaniel as “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.”

Wow! Rachel Maddow just PERFECTLY called out NBC news for hiring Ronna McDaniel.pic.twitter.com/MbFyB8LZrG

— Luke Beasley (@lukepbeasley) March 26, 2024

It’s hardly the first time that a network has faced blowback for installing a former political operative into a high-profile news role. Psaki’s own hiring two years ago raised concerns that MSNBC was allying itself too closely with the Biden White House, where she had served as press secretary.

But this time, the behind-the-scenes grumblings and outside criticism have been amplified by the unusually outspoken complaints from the network’s top news stars.