Ronna McDaniel was recently hired as an NBC News contributor, prompting major backlash
'The View' co-host bash NBC News for hiring Ronna McDaniel: 'Despicable'
"The View" co-hosts criticized NBC News on Monday after they brought on Ronna McDaniel as a contributor and said the move was "despicable."
"The View" co-hosts bashed NBC News on Monday over its "despicable" hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who they called a "shapeshifter."
McDaniel was hired by NBC News on Friday and sat down for her first interview as a contributor with NBC's Kristen Welker on Sunday during "Meet the Press," and co-host Ana Navarro was among the many voices deriding her new contract.
"I think she's a shapeshifter, and she says and does what's convenient for her to say and do when it's convenient. She's from Michigan, where the Romney, which is her name, she used to use. When she was in Michigan she was a Romney, when she became the RNC chair, and it was under Trump, who did not like Romney, she took out the word, the name Romney," Navarro said.
Navarro applauded NBC News' Chuck Todd for criticizing his own network after Welker's interview. Todd said NBC News owed Welker an apology and ripped the network for bringing on McDaniel in remarks that went viral.
"The View" co-hosts raged at NBC News on Monday over their hiring on former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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Navarro said the move was a mistake because of "credibility issues." Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said there were better Republicans NBC News could have brought on as contributors, who "never dabbled" in denying President Biden's victory in 2020.
"You cannot have election deniers given these types of roles in major network news," co-host Sara Haines argued. "Questioning an election is fine, denying every result that proves you wrong is not fine."
Co-host Sunny Hostin accused McDaniel of being "involved in actively suppressing" the Black vote in Detroit, Michigan, alluding to her and Trump's efforts to not certify Biden's victory there in 2020.
"I think there could have been more pushback," Hostin said of McDaniel's interview with Welker. "She is still pushing the same exact narrative, she is being rewarded basically for trying to take away the votes of Americans and I think it's a despicable decision."
Sunny Hostin said NBC News' decision to hire Ronna McDaniel is "despicable." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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McDaniel clashed with Welker on Sunday during a contentious interview after she was hired by NBC to be a contributor.
Welker questioned McDaniel's support for Trump as the head of the RNC during the heated interview, and asked if McDaniel enabled the former president to "spread election lies." Liberals, including many figures within NBC, have lambasted the network for hiring McDaniel, calling the move "appalling."
"I think what people struggle with is, by the time Jan. 6 happened, all of those court cases, more than 60 court cases had already been litigated. Donald Trump had lost, the Supreme Court said they’re not going to take up concerns; as the head of the RNC, did you not have a responsibility to say Joe Biden won?" Welker asked.
NBC News host Kristen Welker and ex-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel speak on "Meet the Press." (Screenshot/NBC)
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McDaniel argued that she had said that Biden won.
"At the time? At the time, before January 6th? Before January 6th, and you're still saying there are concerns this morning as you sit here," Welker said.
"Saying there's concerns about the election doesn't mean he didn't win, and that's the only thing I'm going to say," McDaniel responded.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
