The NBC/MSNBC Ronna Romney McDaniel disgrace

Ronna McDaniel (Getty Images)

I can’t stop thinking about Tom Brokaw and the late Tim Russert in the aftermath of the astounding decision by NBC News and MSNBC to hire former RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel as an analyst. 

Of course, it is something that would never have happened if either man was still at NBC because both men were pillars of probity and journalistic integrity. They could be trusted. They were on your side, and they would never ever abide a liar as spectacular as Ronna McDaniel appearing under the NBC logo. 

The hiring decision by NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein, NBC News chairman Cesar Conde and MSNBC president Rashida Jones isn’t just cynical, it is depraved. It makes a mockery of journalistic ethics and assaults the integrity of superb NBC journalists like Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Carol Lee, Richard Engel, Peter Nicholas, Chuck Todd, Courtney Kube and more, who work tirelessly to inform the American public about what matters in the world and what is happening in grave moments of global crisis. 

Do you want to read something funny? 

Below is an excerpt from an article written for NBCU Academy under the headline “Why basic journalism standards matter:”

One thing that all news organizations truly need is a strong reputation that begets credibility, trust and faith in the entire organization. Maintaining our reputation, our integrity, our independence is a vital role. And to accomplish that we must adhere to our journalistic standards. 

These standards are the basis for our reporting, our newsgathering, our production. Whether broadcast, cable, streaming, digital, social media — all of our journalists follow the highest of standards. We have one huge responsibility to our audience: to get it right.  

If we keep doing that, reputation intact, all else will follow. 

Indeed. What a joke. Just for fun, let me repeat the words: CREDIBILITY, TRUST and FAITH.

How could something like this happen at any news organization that values their reputation and integrity? The decision is so absolutely and utterly oppositional towards the culture, legacy, and glory of NBC News and the National Broadcasting Company. 

Ronna McDaniel is unfit to join any news organization because she is an inveterate liar. She is a chaos agent, who went fully along with Trump’s madness — right through the insurrection and beyond. She didn’t just show indifference towards Trump’s threats of violence, societal mayhem and revenge, she abetted them, aided them and raised money for them. A hard count of the documented lies she told during her tenure at the RNC would number in the tens of thousands. 

Perhaps NBC News viewers can look forward to Roger Stone being signed up as an analyst. Why not? 

MSNBC is different than NBC. 

MSNBC offers both news and a point of view. MSNBC hosts have railed for years about the dangers of Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda. We are about to find out who works in show business, and who has conviction, because any MSNBC host who sits down for a chit chat with Ronna McDaniel is full of shit on a truly epic scale. 

It is inconceivable that Rachel Maddow, a person with deep convictions, integrity and ethics, would ever allow her show to be desecrated by McDaniel’s presence, but beyond that, we are about to discover some things about some people. 

MSNBC stood apart in the early Trump years because it was the American news network that reported most directly, clearly, and vociferously what Trump was — a fascist. 

What MSNBC has done with this hire is emulate the incandescent intellectual and moral corruption of men like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and hundreds more who sold out their principles, party and country for the sake of ambition. 

I’m going to share an excerpt from the superb Substack of the incomparable

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

, who shared the following vignette about Muhammad Ali. Before you read it, I’d like to ask that you ponder it a bit throughout the day.

Kareem’s Daily Quote

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Muhammad Ali

gettyimages: Bettman

I generally don’t like quotes that come across as too self-righteous. This is an exception because I think there’s more nuance to the quote than first appears, and because Muhammad Ali, whom I knew personally for many decades, was one of the most humble men I’ve ever met.

Muhammad Ali was a fighter in and out of the ring. During the Vietnam War, he refused the draft even though he was promised he would be safe from any combat. The U.S. wanted a prominent Black athlete to give his stamp of approval to a war that many thought was racist because of who we were fighting and why, and because of the push to recruit young Black men to fight. He refused to be that poster boy. His stance cost him his career even though he was later vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court in an 8-0 vote. That’s how he lived his whole life: Ignoring personal consequences to help others. He inspired millions across the world. I was one of those millions.

So many martyrs have sacrificed so much to nudge the needle of justice a degree ahead. It’s certainly admirable to volunteer at various charities or service organizations. But “service to others” isn’t always about the big gestures. For various legitimate reasons, not everyone can commit to that level of physical or financial service. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to express that desire to serve.

The spirit of Ali’s quote is what’s important. Each person has to recognize they owe something to the community, whether that community is local, national, or even international. And that they need to sometimes do something to express that commitment, even if it’s inconvenient. That service can be as big as taking to the streets to protest or as small as occasionally looking in on an elderly neighbor to make sure they’re okay or having a lengthy and boring conversation with someone just because they need to talk because they’re lonely.

Social media has turned many people into thirsty faux celebrities needing a grand gesture to publicize their identities. Engagements need to be choreographed, filmed, and put on YouTube. We’re not really cleaning debris from a beach for the sake of the environment but for a photo opportunity for Instagram. Yet, there are thousands of people who quietly, without acknowledgment, spend a day off, or even an hour off, doing something necessary for others. The small, intimate gesture is as valuable to the community as the big, grand gesture, for both are about improving humanity. As poet John Donne said, we are all “a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Any act that lifts one of us, lifts us all.

Conviction often carries a price. Sometimes the price is heavy. What MSNBC just demonstrated is incontrovertible proof that Trump is nothing more than a ratings prop. Hiring one of his chief henchmen seals the lid on that debate. If cynicism had a stench, you’d be able to smell 30 Rock from outer space. The unfortunate aspect about it is that it covers everyone in the stink, whether they deserve it or not. 

It is no secret that cable news ratings are in a state of complete collapse. Look at this incredible chart from this Washington Post article, in which media reporter Erik Wemple demonstrates the cable news viewership apocalypse:

The business model is failing for many reasons as linear TV dies a torturous death, but beyond that misery, is a greater one. The American people have lost faith and trust in journalism because it had been earned by news organizations that have abused their viewers with condescension, bias and propaganda. The American people have come to a collective judgement about all of it and it is this:

We don’t trust any of you.

The hiring of Ronna McDaniel disrespects NBC’s news viewers who care about truth and integrity, while disrespecting MSNBC viewers who care about authenticity, conviction and integrity. 

What is clear from this is that for the leadership of NBC News and MSNBC nothing is real, and nothing matters. It’s all a show, and it’s all a joke. It’s “Bravo” for politics with just as many sociopaths on set as there are on “Vanderpump Rules.” It’s terrible, and it will get worse. 

There is another thing that must be said about Ronna McDaniel, Donald Trump, NBC and MSNBC. It has to do with cruelty and viciousness. 

Amid the disaster zone of American journalism there are more than a few bright spots and green shoots. While some institutions crumple under the weight of change or hypocrisy new media companies that can be trusted are rising. Two of them are Puck News and

The Bulwark

. They are my first reads of the day, except on Sunday when I start the day with Maria Shriver’s inspiring, beautiful and wonderful The Sunday Paper, which everyone in America should be reading. I suspect if it were the case that everyone did, we would all be in much less trouble. It is a beautiful publication, but beauty, truth and love can be also found at

The Bulwark

. 

There is no person whom I regularly read that I think is more gifted than

Jonathan V. Last

. His intellect, decency and grace explode through his writings. This was from a few days ago, and it is about his friend’s children. I’d like to ask two things of you now. Read it slowly in full, and then subscribe to Puck News and The Bulwark if you don’t already do so. Many of you ask what you can do in this moment of national crisis. The long answer is many things. The short answer is be informed and read. From J.V. Last:

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What We Owe to Each Other

My friend J.D. Flynn has written a piece about what Catholic schools owe to children with Down Syndrome:

If you ask the fifth-graders at St. Mary’s School, they’ll tell you that the luckiest kid in their class is the boy who sits next to my daughter Pia.

When I first heard that, I was surprised.

At home, Pia rarely sits still for long. She interrupts people to tell complicated stories or jokes— many of which are quite funny, but which don’t always come at the right time. When she gets bored, she says so, and then she insists on moving on, to do whatever she regards as more interesting than you.

Pia has Down syndrome.

She’s sweet, my daughter, and I love her. She has a big heart, great comedic timing and a sense of self-confidence I often envy.

In fact, I’m sometimes self-conscious on Pia’s behalf—more than I should be—which is why I wondered whether conscientious students would really be keen to sit next to her in class.

But Pia, to her great delight, is immensely popular at St. Mary’s School. So is her brother Max, who also has Down syndrome.

Their great personalities are not the only reason they are beloved.

They’re known and loved and valued because their school has made a decision to include them, and other children with disabilities, as full and active participants in their classrooms.

Here is an unpleasant truth: The Catholic church in America testifies to the inherent dignity of all lives. But in practice, Catholic schools often turn their backs on families who have children who are different. I have seen this, first hand. It is despicable.

J.D. again:

In most Catholic schools, parents like us have long been told that the cost of educating our children would be too great, or that public schools are better equipped for their formation.

It wasn’t long ago that parents at our parish were told the same thing.

But that’s changed. A few years ago, our principal and pastor decided the benefits were worth the challenges. They decided that the school exists to serve all parish families—including families like mine. And they decided that if they really wanted to talk convincingly about a “culture of life,” they had to actually build one in their classrooms. . . .

[I]ncluding students with disabilities has changed a lot about our school culture. Children like mine demonstrate that it’s O.K. to be different, that it’s O.K. to ask for help—and that there is joy in depending on each other to live our Christian vocations.

Their presence combats the atomizing and isolating tendencies of technocratic modernity. They model that interdependence should be the ordinary experience of Christ’s church. And they witness to the fact that while utilitarian anthropology might have a claim on American culture, the Catholic vision of the human person doesn’t tie dignity to productive capacity.

My children learn a lot from their peers, and they teach them a lot, too.

The boy who sits next to my daughter makes sure that she knows what page the class is reading from, and when it’s her turn to read aloud. In turn, she reminds him that a homogenized world is less rich—and less hope-filled—than one which is accommodating to difference.

Read the whole thing. This is all so important. Not only for the Catholic Church—which should be living the faith it proposes—but for our entire society.

Dignity is not tied to a person’s productive capacity. 

Being different is not scary or ugly.

Interdependence is the cornerstone of the human existence.

Don’t be afraid of these ideas. Embrace them.

I want to leave you with some news from J.D.’s son, Max. This week Max made his school’s baseball team. J.D. shared some pictures, but this is the one that got me hardest:

That, my friends, is the purest example of human interdependence you’ll ever see. That is what we owe to each other.

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The day before Last wrote this beautiful passage, I wrote about the politics of compassion and cruelty:

Trump is a bully, and like all bullies, he is weak

What is so staggering about NBC and MSNBC’s decision is their indifference towards Ronna McDaniel’s indifference towards Trump’s cruelty. 

McDaniel has been his handmaid, his personal Aunt Lydia, who has abetted his racism, misogyny, name-calling, threats, and violence. Never once did she say, “No.” Never once did she say, “Enough.” Never once did she say, “Stop.” Never once did she say anything. 

I have written about indifference often at The Warning. I have written about its danger, and I shared one of the formative experiences of my life, which was traveling to Auschwitz as part of the American delegation, which included the moral giant Elie Wiesel. 

I have written about Elie Wiesel and the speech he delivered at the invitation of President and First Lady Clinton in 1999 at the edge of a new millennium. I consider it to be the 20th century’s valedictory and most important teaching, which is that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. 

What NBC and MSNBC have shown is great indifference towards, not only their own standards, but more importantly, basic virtues like truth, honesty, integrity and respect. Reporters who risk their lives at NBC News, who devote their lives to telling the stories of our time now have as a colleague a woman who served the man who called them “enemies of the State,” and has threatened their imprisonment. 

Lastly, there is a singular fact about Ronna McDaniel that will never change. She tried to help Donald Trump execute a coup that would have destroyed the American republic.  

Apparently, today, that counts as a qualification to work at NBC News. 

The first journalist who will be faced with a personal reckoning over this hideous decision is Kristen Welker, who hosts “Meet the Press.” According to news reports, the disgraceful MAGA handmaid will debut on the show.

I deeply respect Kristen Welker, and can tell you directly that she is an incredibly kind and gracious person. When she took over the show this is what she said about her temporary stewardship over the longest-airing show on television:

I'm a political junkie, so this is the honor of a lifetime. It is incredibly humbling. And I think that if you asked my mother, she would tell you that the fact that I am the first person of color taking over the moderator's chair is significant for me. I am going to be focused on continuing the great legacy and mission of "Meet the Press," which is to make sure that we are holding our elected officials to account, holding their feet to the fire, making sure that I'm asking tough questions.  

What would Tim Russert have done? What would Tom Brokaw have done? 

Without question they would have said, “NO!” That is what Kristen Welker should do. 

The bosses will blink. 

Defiance is a necessary trait for people who have values and conviction. This disgrace at NBC and MSNBC should trigger some defiance. If it doesn’t, then things are even worse than I thought.

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