Why NBC Is Suddenly In Full Meltdown Over Ronna McDaniel Hiring Fiasco

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

NBC News is reeling over its decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. McDaniel actively participated in Donald Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election, pressuring state officials not to certify the outcome, and personalities like Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd have been harshly critical. We chatted with New York University’s Jay Rosen, one of our most incisive media critics, about whether the uproar will prompt the media to grapple more deeply with its struggle to capture the true threat Trump and MAGA pose to our democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm Riley Fessler. I'm a podcast producer here at the DSR Network, which means that my job is to make sure that we have great content and great guests across all of our shows.
0:11.8	Our programming is supported by our members, and for that, we are truly grateful. I hope that you'll consider becoming a member to support the work that we do.
0:20.6	Members receive an ad-free listening experience, bonus content for nearly all of our shows,
0:26.0	early access to episodes, enhanced show notes, and access to our exclusive DSR Slack and Discord communities.
0:33.9	Membership is just $7 per month or $70 per year.
0:38.3	To become a member, please visit the DSRnetwork.com forward slash buy.
0:43.3	That's the DSR network.com forward slash buy.
0:47.3	Thank you very much for your support. This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
1:06.9	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:11.4	When NBC News announced the hiring of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air political analyst, its executives probably didn't expect the network to erupt an open revolt.
1:24.3	After all, political strategists have been switching to careers in network news analysis for a long
1:29.7	time, with mostly minimal controversy. But McDaniel was an active participant in Trump's effort to
1:36.7	overturn his 2020 election loss, attacking the legitimacy of President Biden's win, and even
1:42.7	pressuring state officials not to certify the
1:45.2	outcome. And now, network personalities like Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd are harshly criticizing
1:51.7	the decision. We think this has the potential to be an important moment, one in which the media
1:57.4	finally grapples seriously with the role it has played in sanitizing Donald
2:01.9	Trump in the MAGA movement, but only if media figures seize on this moment to force such a
2:07.4	debate. Today we're discussing this with one of the most incisive critics of political media out there
2:12.8	today, Jay Rosen of New York University. Welcome, Jay.
2:19.3	Thank you very much, Craig.
2:24.8	First, let's listen to what some NBC personalities have said about the hiring of McDaniel.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Republic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New Republic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.