- McDaniel launched her new job as an NBC News contributor on Sunday
- The heated interview with host Kristen Welker included contradictory statements she made when she was chair of the RNC.
- Veteran Meet the Press host Chuck Todd said on a panel after the interview that bosses ‘owe (Welker) an apology’ for allowing McDaniel to be on the show.
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Ronna McDaniel softly launched her new NBC News gig on Meet the Press Sunday morning during a heated interview with host Kristen Welker, where the former RNC chairwoman contradicted positions she had previously pushed.
Longtime NBC News Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, who left the show last year, said during a panel after Welker’s interview that his bosses “owe him an apology” for allowing McDaniel to be on the show. .
McDaniel announced she would resign as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee following mounting pressure from former President Donald Trump. She was replaced by Michael Whatley, a longtime MAGA ally and former chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.
And Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, was elected co-chair of the party at a meeting in Texas earlier this month.
Following McDaniel’s departure, he signed a contract for a new job at liberal-leaning NBC News.
Former RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel launched her new job as an NBC News contributor on Sunday in a heated interview with Meet the Press host Kristen Welker.
During a panel after the interview, former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd (right) said his bosses owe Welker (left) an apology for having McDaniel on his show.
Welker welcomed McDaniel onto his show Sunday to introduce his new work, but the conversation turned sour.
McDaniel admitted on the show that he “took one for the team” when it came to voicing the opinion of the entire RNC, claiming this included pushing Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was not legitimate and that prisoners convicted on the 6th January they should be released from jail. .
“I don’t think the people who committed violence on January 6 should be released,” McDaniel told Welker.
—So you don’t agree with that. He’s been saying that for months, Ronna. Why not speak before? Why talk about it now? the NBC anchor questioned.
“When you’re the chairman of the Republican National Committee, right now you take one for the whole team,” he responded. ‘I can be myself a little more, right?’
And he continued: ‘This is what I believe. I don’t think violence should be in our political discourse, Republican or Democrat. And I don’t agree with that. I agree with him on many other things.
“I don’t think we should release the people who violently attacked Capitol Police officers and attacked the Capitol.”
It followed a tense back-and-forth over the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and repeated claims that the results were not legitimate due to widespread fraud and interference.
McDaniel says that while there were “problems” in 2020, she does believe Biden is the legitimately elected president.
But Welker questioned why McDaniel could now discuss this but was unwilling to make the same claims when she was RNC chairwoman for years.
“I’m going to back up a little bit because I think it’s fair to say there were problems in 2020 and say that doesn’t mean he’s not the legitimate president,” McDaniel reasoned.
Welker pressed McDaniel on several issues, including whether he believes the 2020 election results were legitimate and whether January 6 prisoners convicted of violence should be released.
During an on-air panel after Welker’s discussion with McDaniel, her predecessor was visibly upset by the fact that NBC News hired the former RNC chairwoman.
‘Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation. Because I don’t know what to believe,” Todd said.
“She’s now a paid contributor to NBC News, so I have no idea if any of the answers she gave him were because she didn’t want to ruin her contract,” she continued. “She wants us to believe that she was speaking for the Republican National Committee when it was paying for it.”
So you have credibility issues that you still have to deal with. Does she speak for herself or on behalf of who pays her?
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison also criticized NBC for the new hire.
“The free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and has faced and continues to face unprecedented attacks by Donald Trump and his lackeys, including Ronna McDaniel, to undermine its credibility and make room for MAGA lies and deceptions,” he wrote in a statement Sunday.
‘All of us – including the independent press – have a duty to stop them.
He added: ‘There should be no debate about the truth in our political discourse. Ronna McDaniel is a proven liar and she has no place in an honest and objective conversation about the future of this country.