Ronna, We Hardly Knew Ye

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One South Carolina political strategist summed it up perfectly: “Well, that didn’t last long.”

On Friday, fresh off her seven-year stint as Republican National Committee chair, Ronna McDaniel joined NBC as a contributor. On Sunday, she made her first appearance in that capacity on the network’s flagship Meet the Press program. Two days later, she was handed a pink slip.

It’s been a tough month for the 51-year-old niece of former Massachusetts governor-turned-failed “Republican” presidential candidate-turned-Utah senator Mitt Romney. The minute former president Donald Trump sealed the 2024 GOP presidential nomination a few weeks backs, her gig was up at the RNC.

Not that anyone beyond the Romney family was sorry to see her go. McDaniel led the Republican Party through a trouncing in the 2018 midterms, lost the presidency in 2020, and saw desultory results again in the 2022 midterms – a year that should have been rife with GOP pickups.

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So when she found herself out of a job, where did McDaniel land? In the welcoming embrace of NBC, arguably the country’s most liberal network. Conservatives were livid, calling it a betrayal.

But it turned out the Peacock network’s embrace wasn’t so welcoming after all. Just moments after McDaniel’s debut, host and liberal pinup boy Chuck Todd unloaded on her in a mid-show rant. He accused her of “gaslighting” NBC reporters and even practicing “character assassination” on them during her RNC tenure.

“So when NBC made the decision to give her NBC News’ credibility, you got to ask yourself, ‘What does she bring to NBC News?’” Todd said.

Not content to leave it there, the host went on to spit in the faces of the executives who sign his fat paycheck.

“Our bosses owe you an apology,” he told viewers in a surge of self-righteousness.

The matter didn’t end when Todd signed off. America’s favorite rise-and-shine liberals resumed beating the “Let’s burn McDaniel at the stake” drum on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday.  

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Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were in danger of developing carpal tunnel syndrome from all their sanctimonious finger-wagging.

“We weren’t asked our opinions of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons, including but not limited to, as lawyers might say, Ms. McDaniel’s role in…”

And then he was off to races with the usual litany of Trump bashing …

Not to be outdone, Brzezinski solemnly intoned, “it goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor.” 

The Queen of Lefty TV Talking Heads piled it on even more on her show that night. Rachel Maddow goaded network management with the oh-so-sincere reminder, “it is a show of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong.”

By Tuesday evening, NBC’s brass had had enough. With their crew in full-scale mutiny mode, and the only way to appease them was for the offender to walk the plank. Late in the afternoon, NBCU news group chair Cesar Conde sent a memo to employees both announcing McDaniel’s departure, and bowing and scraping to internal progressive pressure.

“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” he said. “I approved it, and I take full responsibility for it.”

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News outlets report McDaniel is talking to attorneys and exploring legal options to address her termination.

It is worth noting that in the early part of this decade, former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile worked as a contributor at Fox News for over two years before hopping over to ABC News.

Where was the conservative outcry and backlash over that hiring?

[Crickets.]

“McDaniel is infected with the taint of Trump,” liberals point out.

Okay … but didn’t Trump just force her out?

Also, wasn’t Brazile similarly infected by the Clintons – particularly the exceedingly viral Hillary Clinton strain? Remember how she was forced to resign as a CNN contributor after it was learned she had leaked two 2016 presidential debate questions in advance to the Clinton campaign? 

“Well, that’s different,” liberals huff. And they’re right. Because it reveals the MSM have one set of standards for RNC chairs and a completely different one for DNC chairs.

Meanwhile, McDaniel now finds herself stranded on the loneliest of desert islands. Scorned by the Right and loathed by the Left, one can’t help wondering where she’ll go from here. But fear not! The cadre of Romney cousins will eventually find some lush pasture where she can spend her days lucratively grazing.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.

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