Trump attacks Comcast chairman after McDaniel ouster from NBC
Former President Trump attacked Brian L. Roberts, the Chairman of NBCUniversal's parent company Comcast, after it ousted former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel as a contributor to NBC News this week.
"The sick degenerates over at MSDNC are really running NBC, and there seems nothing Chairman Brian Roberts can do about it," Trump wrote on his Truth Social website overnight Tuesday. "Watching Chuck Todd, of all people, viciously giving Roberts a piece of his small mind, and then berating him for hiring Ronna without his, or the other lunatics, approval, was just a step too far."
McDaniel was fired by the network on Tuesday after vocal protests from some of NBC's biggest anchors and hosts — and that of its left-leaning sister network MSNBC.
Todd, after McDaniel appeared for an interview on "Meet The Press" on Sunday, told moderator Kristen Welker executives at the company "owed her an apology" and attacked McDaniel's "credibility issues."
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explicitly implored executives at NBC News to cut ties with McDaniel, citing her efforts to aid Trump.
McDaniel has come under fire for her comments on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and role in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.
In a note to staff announcing McDaniel would not be a contributor to NBC, chairman Cesar Conde said the previous decision to bring her aboard “was made because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times.”
Trump earlier on Tuesday mocked McDaniel over the same news, saying she was "fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear."
The former president has for years routinely attacked NBC and MSNBC, the network he often refers to as "MSDNC."
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, also recently suggested that if he is elected again this fall, he would investigate Comcast for "treason."
"Brian’s great father would have fired Chuck Todd, and all the rest of these losers, on the spot," Trump wrote on Tuesday. "Perhaps Brian still will. If I knew Ronna was going to troubled MSNBC, I would have advised her to change her name back to Romney, she would have had a better chance!"