Chris Cuomo rips NBC's reversal on Ronna McDaniel hiring

NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo criticized NBC’s News’s decision to oust former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

“How is this not a ‘[former President Trump] and his people tried to rig the election, we don’t want ‘em around,’” Cuomo said on his show Tuesday. “‘Cause they’ve had plenty of Democrats on that said that Trump won because of Russian election interference.”

“Now, they didn’t do what Trump and his cronies did, but the idea that ‘This is so offensive, that we can't even have someone who wants to discuss it,’” Cuomo continued.

McDaniel’s ouster followed pushback from the network’s staff over her hiring, including some on-air, because of her comments and role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. NBCU News Group Chair Cesar Conde announced the decision to cut ties with McDaniel in a Tuesday memo obtained by The Hill.

“No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned,” Conde wrote. “Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal.”

Rachel Maddow, a popular host on NBC’s sister network MSNBC, said on Monday that McDaniel’s hiring was “inexplicable” and pushed for her network to disassociate from the former RNC chair.

“Take a minute, acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call,” Maddow said. “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong. And our country needs us to be strong right now.” 

Conde also said in his memo that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”

“While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it,” Conde wrote. 

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.