I'm Actually Glad NBC News Hired Ronna McDaniel

Hear me out

I'm actually glad NBC News hired Ronna McDaniel. 
Especially now that they fired her. 

It was, from the beginning, outrageous. Much more than a profound breach of journalistic ethics, it posed a direct threat to American democracy. McDaniel had willingly abetted attempts by Donald Trump to overthrow the will of the voters, obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, and, by extension, end the American system of government as we know it. 

As no shortage of people inside and outside NBC News have argued with passion and conviction, she’s not exactly the person you want to have on your payroll if you are a news organization. Or really if you are anyone, for that matter. 

And it is this second point I want to emphasize. 

The reason why I think it could end up being a good thing that all of this has transpired is that we desperately needed a moment of clarity. 

I hope it is just the beginning. 

Because while McDaniel has been a loathsome accomplice to the MAGA mayhem, she is far from alone. 

Anyone who spreads the lies of stolen elections and excuses the violent insurrection of January 6th should be treated with abject derision and barred from any serious role in American society. And yet, almost every Republican office holder of note has endorsed Trump and, again, by extension, the autocratic furor that fuels his run for the presidency. 

Then there are the major corporations that shovel campaign donations to politicians who didn’t certify the 2020 election. There are the rightwing media echo chambers subsidized by cable subscription fees. And there are the lobbyist enterprises eager to offer reputation rehab. 

And back to McDaniel, how did she end up with a deal with the big-time talent agency CAA? They have now dropped her. But what were they thinking? It’s a question a lot of people need to be asking of themselves.

I think it is admirable that journalists at NBC News revolted and that they had the support of their peers at other news organizations. But how many times have these same organizations given platforms to election deniers without pressing them on their support of the Big Lie?

I can tell you that there is a lot of pressure in traditional news organizations not to seem politically biased. That can be a good thing up to a point, but far too often it leads to overcorrection. Which leads to hiring someone like McDaniel. 

And this leads to the way politics is covered more generally.

No one should be allowed to talk about inflation, the border, or whatever other issue is on their mind if they can’t first admit that Joe Biden fairly won the 2020 presidential election. Would news organizations give their airtime to someone who claims that climate change is a hoax because the Earth is flat? 

Trump ran McDaniel out of the RNC because she wasn’t enough of a sycophantic patsy bowing to his craven needs. Let that be our yardstick. As bad as she was, she represents the mainstream views of the current Republican Party, which is now the Party of Trump. 

We need a red line in the way our politics is covered, funded, and promoted. This week, McDaniel initially found herself on one side of the line — acceptance. Only then was she relegated to the other side — rejection. 

She didn’t change. People with the power to fight back shifted the narrative. Again, a moment of clarity. 

But McDaniel is a symptom as much as a problem. She couldn’t have done the damage she has done without the rest of the confederacy of cowardly complicity. 

NBC News did the wrong thing. And then they did the right thing. That’s progress. But let’s not stop there.