Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced that Ronna McDaniel will not be appearing on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid NBC News contributor.
Joe Scarborough said, “I know you won’t be surprised to know that we’ve been inundated with calls this weekend, as have most people connected with this network, about NBC’s decision to hire her. We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday. We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons. Iing but not limited to, as lawyers might say Ms. McDaniels’ role in Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone.”
Mika Brzezinski continued, “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor.”
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The two most powerful on-air talents at MSNBC are Joe Scarborough and Rachel Maddow. A look at the programming schedule of the network reveals that most of the talent that have shows have some connection to Maddow or Morning Joe. Those two programs are ratings drivers and a big part of MSNBC’s brand.
So for Scarborough and Brzezinski to announce on the air their opposition to the McDaniel hiring, and that she won’t be appearing on their program is a very big deal.
The fact that they were not asked about the hiring in advance matches what Chuck Todd said on Meet The Press on Sunday.Â
It appears that the corporate bosses at NBC decided to hire McDaniel without asking or talking to any of the talent about it.
The hiring and platforming of McDaniel has been criticized by everyone from Liz Cheney to the Michigan Secretary of State.Â
NBC News made a big mistake and they need to get out of the Ronna McDaniel business today.
make their move or pack up and end this investigation.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
