Fresh off her departure from the Republican National Committee, former chair Ronna McDaniel has revealed her next move: joining NBC News as a political analyst for the upcoming 2024 election season.
Despite her past criticism of liberal media outlets while serving as chair, McDaniel has opted to take a surprising turn by aligning herself with the network that owns the notably left-leaning MSNBC. While she won’t be gracing Rachel Maddow’s show anytime soon, viewers can anticipate seeing more of McDaniel across both channels, offering a conservative perspective in contrast to their predominantly liberal lineup.
“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” remarked Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC’s political talent, in an internal memo obtained by the New York Times. Brown emphasized that McDaniel would bring “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.”
McDaniel is slated to play a significant role in the network’s election night coverage later this year, alongside other former Republican figures such as Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, and Brendan Buck, an advisor to past House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner.
Her entry into the realm of established conservative analysts suggests that McDaniel has been sidelined by Michael Whatley, the new chair of the RNC, and former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
In February, McDaniel stepped down after three challenging years of party fundraising, amid pressure from Trump, who privately expressed frustration over the party’s perceived lack of focus on election integrity. Whatley, a staunch Trump ally and leader of the North Carolina Republican Party, has been joined by co-chair Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law, who recently boasted about the RNC’s strongest fundraising month in over a year.
McDaniel’s final months were marked by criticized handling of GOP presidential debates without Trump and facing backlash from other candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy, who used her as a foil to gain traction in a crowded field. She officially resigned following President Trump’s decisive victory over Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican primary on February 24th.
McDaniel is set to make her debut on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this upcoming Sunday.