On March 22, NBC news hired former RNC Head Ronna Romney McDaniel as a political commentator. Then, the talking heads of MSNBC publicly objected. NBC’s leadership then changed their mind and sent Ronna on her way. The entire fiasco got me thinking. Was Ronna getting shot down by MSNBC elites just another example of a bigger problem with liberal media, namely, they just can’t reach regular Americans like Fox News can?
NBC to Ronna McDaniel: You’re Fired
Ronna McDaniel may have gotten fired faster than any Donald Trump apprentice! So who is Ronna Romney McDaniel? The niece of Mitt Romney, McDaniel served as head of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2017 until March 8, 2024. She reportedly stepped down from the RNC, though she herself indicated that Donald Trump wanted her to “move aside.”
Since it is an entertaining little tale, let’s summarize the recent events surrounding NBC’s hiring and subsequent firing of Ronna McDaniel:
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- On Friday March 22, 2024, NBC News announced that they would hire McDaniel as a political analyst.
- On Sunday March 24, McDaniel appeared as a guest on NBC’s Meet the Press. This was an appearance scheduled before she had been hired.
- When asked if she was pushed out of her role at the RNC by Trump, McDaniel said, “He absolutely wanted me to move aside and wanted Michael Whatley and Lara Trump to come in.”
- When the conversation came to the 2020 election and its aftermath, McDaniel said:
- “I want to be very clear: The violence that happened on January 6th is unacceptable.”
- “I do not think people who committed violent acts on January 6th should be freed.”
- She indicated she intends to vote for Trump.
- Further questioning of McDaniel centered on her involvement in a phone call with Republican canvassers in Michigan. McDaniel confirmed she had joined Trump on this call, where he allegedly pressured canvassers not to certify the 2020 election results. McDaniel denied instructing them to take any specific action during the call.
- Ultimately, and contrary to the view of many Republicans, McDaniel said “The reality is Joe Biden won. He’s the president. He’s the legitimate president. I have always said, and I continue to say, there were issues in 2020. I believe that both can be true.”
Even before the show had ended, Chuck Todd, NBC News chief political analyst, began questioning why NBC had hired her, citing to her credibility issues primarily due to her involvement in post-2020 election challenge activities.
On Monday, March 25, the decision to hire McDaniel continued to draw an intense backlash from both on-air journalists at NBC News and MSNBC. Several popular MSNBC hosts, including Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Joe Scarborough, publicly objected to her hiring.
On Tuesday March 26, NBC News reversed its decision and announced that Ronna McDaniel would not be an NBC News contributor.
MSNBC Talking Heads Reinforce Their Own Bubble
Polls show that about one-third of American adults do not believe that Joe Biden was legitimately elected President in 2020. While the percentage that believe the 2020 election was “rigged” is far less than the 82% claimed by Donald Trump, there might be 70 million or more Americans who believe the election was rigged. While some might argue that this is the result of conservatives being more likely to believe false information, possibly due to being in an information “bubble”, it does not change the fact that this is a large portion of America. And I for one, as verified by the fact I started this blog and podcast in response to information overload and misleading information, believe that outlets like MSNBC still need to try to speak to that part of the population.
Adding Ronna McDaniel as a contributor may have been an important step for MSNBC toward that goal. I have heard MSNBC personalities express their frustration with Trump supporters – they can’t understand how people support Trump. If MSNBC personalities truly have an intellectual curiosity and want to reach Trump supporters whether to understand them or change their mind, then why not talk to McDaniel?
McDaniel’s responses on Meet the Press suggest she is not currently an election denier. She is still a Trump supporter. MSNBC personalities believe she was involved in questionable shenanigans to not certify 2020 election results in Michigan. But don’t they believe in giving people second chances? And don’t forget, she was essentially an employee of Trump at the time. And unlike MSNBC personalities who apparently tell their bosses who to hire and fire, I am pretty sure McDaniel had to go along with Trump’s effort to some extent or face losing her job. The rest of us who work for overbearing or asshole bosses, or even nice bosses, understand that one doesn’t always have the option of objecting to poor or unethical decisions at work. Ultimately, since McDaniel seemed like she was squeezed out of her job at the RNC, might it be a good time for NBC to say, “we accept you with all of your faults.” In stark contrast, many Trump supporters accept him despite (because of?) his faults.
What if she had stayed? McDaniel might have “found Jesus” in the “good news” preached by more liberal MSNBC intellectuals and been converted to a liberal leaning faith. If she didn’t, they could have set her up as the whipping girl for her “bad ideas.” In the old days when Fox News was “fair and balanced”, Sean Hannity had a punching bag as his subordinate co-host of Hannity & Colmes. Colmes would come on and get a minute to say his left-leaning piece, and then Hannity could use the next 10 minutes to shoot down Colmes’ “wussy liberal ideas”. Sure, I might be exaggerating a bit, but you get my point. MSNBC could have given the appearance of being fair and balanced by accepting McDaniel and perhaps widened their audience base as well.
MSNBC Talks to the Highly Educated; Fox News Talks to the Working Class
Viewer demographics indeed suggest MSNBC leans toward the highly educated. In 2019, one data source shows that MSNBC viewers skewed toward college graduates and advanced degree holders as compared to Fox News.
When Fox News was started, many journalists believed the goal was to appeal to conservative audiences to address what founder Rupert Murdoch believed was a liberal bias among traditional news outlets. I submit that, over time, Fox News has essentially become a populist channel. Populism is defined as “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.” By this definition, it may well appear that Fox News sees MSNBC as one of the “elite groups” failing to address the concerns of “ordinary people”. In television terms, this results in working class persons finding Fox News more appealing than MSNBC.
NBC’s decision to fire Ronna McDaniel further aggravates this issue for liberal-leaning outlets like MSNBC. While Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough asks Trump supporters “What’s wrong with you people?”, he apparently did not want the opportunity to ask one of them (McDaniel) on his show.
To Those Whom Much is Given, Much is Required
I understand that MSNBC/NBC personalities are in their jobs to secure higher viewership for their employer. Still, I believe it is incumbent upon them to fill a critical civic role in our society. At They’re All Lying to Us, it is a prime directive to fill a civic role by getting Americans out of their media bubbles and talking again. This includes talking to those with whom you do not agree. Among those who have secured a big microphone in our world, such as personalities at MSNBC, it would seem to be a commonly held belief that our democracy is damaged by the media siloes we occupy. Bridging the gap in our divided country is of great importance. Therefore, one might conclude that it would be incumbent upon such influential persons to be the “bigger person” and seek out regular conversations with Ronna McDaniel, rather than suggesting their own ethical superiority empowers them to limit alternative views. This should be especially true when such views are shared by millions in this country.
And besides, Fox News has been kicking MSNBC’s ass in ratings for years, so maybe it is in the best interests of their jobs as well.