NBC News is hiring former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel to be a contributor at its cable network, with her debut appearance slated for Meet the Press on Sunday, March 24.
The New York Times reported Friday that the network is bringing McDaniel aboard and that she is also anticipated to make appearances on far-left MSNBC:
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News political coverage, wrote in a memo, adding that Ms. McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” Ms. McDaniel will be especially involved in the coverage of the 2024 campaign, including election nights.
The pro-Trump former RNC chairwoman announced in February ahead of Super Tuesday that she would be stepping down from her post in March to allow the GOP’s presidential nominee to pick the next chair. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was on a glide path to the nomination at the time, with one opponent left for the GOP nomination in former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
“I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing,” McDaniel said in February. “The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.”
McDaniel had called on Haley to drop out of the race weeks earlier during an appearance on Fox News Channel amid coverage of the New Hampshire primary. This came after Trump’s other closest rivals in the field, including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, suspended their campaigns and endorsed the 45th president after the Iowa Caucuses.
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Days later, Haley told NBC News’s Meet the Press that the RNC was “clearly not” being an honest broker in the race for the nomination. Haley dropped out of the race after a poor showing on Super Tuesday, and, on March 6, the RNC congratulated Trump on becoming the presumptive nominee.
Michael Whatley succeded McDaniel as RNC chair two days later, while Lara Trump, the 45th president’s daughter-in-law, was elected as co-chair.
McDaniel was elected to four terms as chair, beginning in 2017 when the former president handpicked her to lead the organization after she played a key role in delivering Michigan in the 2016 election while serving as the state’s GOP chair.
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