NBC News’ decision to hire former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a political commentator sparked intense criticism from her new colleagues in recent days. Leading on-air personalities at NBC and its cable TV cousin, MSNBC, including Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, took the unusual step of publicly condemning their bosses’ decision.
These internal critics said that by hiring Ms. McDaniel, the network had authorized election denial. In the days after the 2020 election, Ms. McDaniel spread some false theories pushed by then-President Donald J. Trump, including that votes had been miscounted in key battleground states, and she helped pressure election officials in a county in Michigan exercise so that they hold back certify the results. She has since sought to downplay her role in questioning the integrity of the election, saying on “Meet The Press” on Sunday that President Biden defeated Mr. Trump “fair and square.”
Many mainstream news organizations have focused on the internal tensions at NBC. But the uproar at the network drew mixed reactions from many conservative commentators, who argued that it was evidence that NBC News journalists are overwhelmingly liberal and intolerant of conservative views.
Fox News
After playing clips in a segment in which Mr. Todd and MSNBC anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski outlined their opposition to Ms. McDaniel’s employment on television, panelists on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” expressed disbelief at the move Backlash.
“If someone at Fox News said that, they would be thrown out the door,” said Bill Hemmer, the show’s host.
“I was really disappointed that Chuck Todd, someone who is a journalist, commented on it in that way,” said Kayleigh McEnany, co-host of the Fox show “Outnumbered,” who was White House press secretary under Mr. Trump. “Who on your network, NBC or MSNBC, represents the 46.7 percent of the country that the RealClearPolitics average, when you look at the polls, say they support Trump?”
“The liberal media can’t stand having a different point of view on their show,” said Jeanine Pirro, host of “The Five” on Fox. Ms. Pirro further noted that MSNBC and NBC commentators did not object to the network’s hiring of Michael Steele, another former RNC chairman, in 2011.
Bill O’Reilly
Former Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly said on NewsNation on Monday that Ms. McDaniel “made a big mistake” in trying to convince Michigan voters not to certify the results of the 2020 election.
However, he said that she was still unfairly paid for that decision and that her comments on Sunday that Mr. Biden had actually won the 2020 election should have been enough for the network’s talent to accept her hiring.
“That’s not good enough for NBC,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “It has to be canceled. It has to be vaporized, it has to disappear.”
Newsmax, Breitbart and National Review
Newsmax, a media outlet that spread false theories about the 2020 election, reported on the reaction to Ms. McDaniel’s hiring in a news article that described MSNBC anchors as “scorched earth” on the former RNC chairman.
Breitbart, a conservative news site, focused on Ms. Maddow’s reaction to Ms. McDaniel’s hiring, calling the anchor’s monologue about Ms. McDaniel a “tirade.”
National Review, a conservative publication that has sometimes spoken out against Mr. Trump, pointed out that MSNBC employed several anchors who held prominent positions in the Biden administration.
“There was no such outrage when MSNBC brought in former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and former Kamala Harris communications staffer Symone Sanders,” one story said.
Source link
2024-03-27 04:19:38
www.nytimes.com
