Maddow blasts ‘inexplicable’ decision by NBC to hire McDaniel

MSNBC prime-time host Rachel Maddow blasted her own network Monday over its recent decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as a political commentator.

“If you care what I think about this, the fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News — to me that is inexplicable,” Maddow said on her show. “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 TSA screener. And so, I find the decision to put her on the payroll inexplicable.”

McDaniel’s hiring, which was announced by the network late last week, has set off a firestorm of criticism inside the network and an open revolt among household name hosts and anchors.

Maddow said she hopes NBC News would “reverse their decision” to hire McDaniel, who appeared on “Meet The Press” over the weekend and defended her previous comments on former President Trump, the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“And it’s not about Democratic party, Republican party, it’s not about partisanship or right versus left,” she continued. “It’s about our system of government and undermining elections and going after democracy.”

Maddow highlighted McDaniel’s role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and said NBC, like all news organizations, is currently tasked with “trying to cover an election … and cover bad actors who are using the rights and privileges of a democracy to end democracy.”

The host was among a slew of top talent at the network to use its airwaves Monday to ridicule leadership over the decision to hire McDaniel, including Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki and Joy Reid.

Maddow, one of the left-leaning network’s longest tenured hosts, argued NBC News and its parent company could show strength by admitting hiring McDaniel was a mistake and ending their deal with the former RNC chair.

“Take a minute, acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call,” she said. “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong. And our country needs us to be strong right now.”