NBC’s Chuck Todd criticizes network for hiring former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as contributor

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tumult inside NBC over the network’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a contributor spilled onto the airwaves Sunday.

According to Nypost, Former 'Meet the Press' anchor Chuck Todd blasted the network for the move during a panel on the show Sunday, contending McDaniel’s hiring made his successor’s job more difficult.

“Our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd — now the network’s chief political analyst - told Kristen Welker on 'Meet the Press' Sunday. “There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this.”

Kristen Welker's predicament and Chuck Todd's critique

Welker had to give a disclaimer before her interview with McDaniel Sunday, telling viewers that it was booked before her contract with NBC was announced.

“You got put into an impossible situation, booking this interview,” Todd said. “And then all of a sudden the rug was pulled out from under you, and you find out she’s being paid to show up? It is unfortunate for this program, but I am glad you did the best that you could.”

There are already signs of a wider revolt over McDaniel.

MSNBC's stance on McDaniel and insights into political maneuvering

MSNBC president Rashida Jones privately informed employees that the left-leaning cable network does not plan to put McDaniel on the air, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

During the interview, McDaniel suggested that her ouster as party boss stemmed from Donald Trump’s irritation at her push for debates in the 2024 primary race.

“Trump, now the presumptive nominee who is also facing a slew of federal felony charges, skipped all of the 2024 GOP debates.”

“I knew at that point when I was doing that role, and we were going to have debates that when the nominee came forward and it was likely to be President Trump that they would want to switch,” McDaniel added.

She defended the move by juxtaposing the GOP with Democrats who eschewed debates and now have to contend with Robert F Kennedy Jr running as an independent.

Trump, 77, met with McDaniel before endorsing a replacement. He had initially backed her to take over the party apparatus after he won the presidency in 2016.

Critics of McDaniel pointed to the GOP’s poor electoral record under her tenure and the anemic fundraising numbers posted over recent months.

Evaluating RNC's performance and post-tenure commentary

Last year — adjusted for inflation — the RNC weathered its worst fundraising year in three decades, raking in just $87.2 million and concluding the year with $8 million cash on hand, per the Federal Election Commission.

By contrast, the DNC reaped $119 million and finished off the year with around $21 million cash on hand, according to the FEC.

“We don’t pick the candidates, we’re turnout,” McDaniel said about the GOP’s electoral performance under her watch. “What I say to people is we’re building the road that all the candidates drive on … the road wasn’t the problem. It’s candidate to candidate.”

“So I view my tenure as RNC chair as a success.”

No longer bound by the obligations of being the party boss, McDaniel spoke more candidly about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and seemingly pushed back on Trump’s characterizations of those arrested as “hostages.”

“I want to be very clear, the violence that happened on January 6 is unacceptable. It doesn’t represent our country,” she said. “If you attacked our Capitol and … you’ve been convicted, then that should stay.”

Reflecting on past constraints and defending actions amid controversy

When asked why she wasn’t more vocal against Trump’s rhetoric revolving around the Capitol riot earlier, McDaniel underscored that she’s no longer the RNC chair.

“Now, when you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team. Now I get to be a little bit more myself. This is what I believe. I don’t think violence should be in our political discourse,” McDaniel said.

She later affirmed that “the reality is Joe Biden won, he’s the president,” while maintaining “I continue to say there were issues in 2020,” concerning the way the election was carried out in certain states.

Later on in the contentious interview, McDaniel rebuffed suggestions that she couldn’t be trusted to believe what she said.

“I don’t think I’m changing my tone at all,” McDaniel replied when asked about whether she was changing her tone about President Biden being “legitimately elected.”

McDaniel also defended a call she participated with to two Republican members of the Wayne County Board, in which she appeared to nudge them not to certify the 2020 election results, according to audio.

“They voted no. They didn’t vote not to certify. They said, ‘You know, we want an audit.’ There were some problems in Wayne County,” McDaniel argued. “They said, ‘As canvassers, we think we should have an audit before we certify.'”

She countered that those officials were “called such vicious names, such vile names” and endured threats that they later changed their votes and were “left shaken.”

“Nobody should be threatened or bullied or pushed to change a vote and that’s what happened to them,” McDaniel, who lives in Wayne County and previously served as the GOP’s Michigan chair, said.

McDaniel's perspective on RNC funds allocation

The former RNC head also weighed in on the use of RNC funds to foot Trump’s legal bills. Technically, the RNC will take donor money and funnel it to Trump’s Save America PAC, which has already spent tens of millions of dollars covering his legal expenses.

“As long as the donors know that that’s what they’re doing,” McDaniel said. “I think he’s being very open that they’re helping with his legal bills.”

Under her watch, the RNC helped Trump pay some of his legal bills, but that ended when he launched his 2024 bid in November 2022.