Veteran NBC anchor Chuck Todd publicly attacked his network’s leadership on Sunday, questioning why NBC News hired Ronna McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and declaring live on air, “There’s a reason why there are so many reporters at NBC News are uncomfortable with it.”
Mr. Todd’s comments on “Meet the Press,” the top political talk show he has hosted for nine years, were an extraordinary escalation of behind-the-scenes tensions simmering within NBC News and its cable cousin MSNBC after the announcement Friday that Ms. McDaniel had been brought in as a political analyst.
Some reporters at NBC were surprised by the decision to hire Ms. McDaniel, citing her tenure at the RNC under President Donald J. Trump, when he regularly echoed Mr. Trump’s criticisms of the media and, in particular, left-wing programming on MSNBC.
Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, called several prominent anchors over the weekend to assure them that they would not be forced to shut Ms. McDaniel off their shows, according to two people briefed on the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details that were meant to be private.
Ms. McDaniel made her NBC debut on “Meet the Press” on Sunday in an appearance that Today’s host, Kristen Welker, told viewers had been planned weeks before Ms. McDaniel joined as a paid contributor. “This is going to be a news interview and I was not involved in hiring her,” Ms. Welker said.
After the interview aired, Ms. Welker joined the set for a live panel discussion that included Mr. Todd, who began his remarks by saying, “Let me address the elephant in the room.”
“I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Mr Todd said. “Because I don’t know what to believe. She’s now a paid contributor to NBC News, so I have no idea if any response she gave you was because she didn’t want to screw up her contract.”
Mr. Todd said Ms. McDaniel “has credibility issues” and continued, “There’s a reason why a lot of reporters at NBC News are uncomfortable with this because a lot of our business dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been gaslighted, they were met with character assassination.”
He added: “So when NBC made the decision to give her the credibility of NBC News, you have to ask yourself, ‘What does she bring to NBC News?’
Reached by phone Sunday, Ms. McDaniel declined to comment.
The path from Washington politics to an on-air analyst role is well-worn. Ms. McDaniel is just the latest top Republican to sign a deal with a network. Reince Priebus, for example, who served as Mr. Trump’s first chief of staff, is now an ABC News contributor.
Television news departments are also eager to ensure that their campaign coverage carries a variety of ideological voices, not just pundits who lean to the political left. Leaders at NBC News, which unlike MSNBC does not carry public opinion programming, made that point in their memo Friday announcing Ms. McDaniel’s new role.
“It couldn’t be a more important time to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” wrote Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News’ political coverage. “He will support our flagship coverage by providing an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” NBC News already employs Republican commentators such as Marc Short, who served as former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff.
In her Sunday interview with Ms. McDaniel, Ms. Welker pressed the former Republican leader on whether she believed President Biden had legitimately won the 2020 presidential election.
“Fair and fair, he won,” Ms. McDaniel said. “It’s certified. Done.”
“Rhona, why did it take you until now to be able to say that?” Mrs. Welker asked.
“I’m going to back off a little bit because I think it’s fair to say there were problems in 2020 and to say that doesn’t mean he’s not the rightful president,” Ms. McDaniel responded.
Symone D. Sanders, a former spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris who is now an MSNBC anchor, later praised Ms. Welker’s handling of the interview, writing to X“She took a long time on the record.”
