NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd slammed his network during a Sunday broadcast of &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; after NBC hired former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.
Todd discussed McDaniel&#8217;s hiring with journalist Kristen Welker, who recently sat down with McDaniel for an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/ronna-mcdaniel-says-there-was-tension-between-rnc-and-trump-campaign-over-debates-full-interview-207575621720" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> on the relationship between the Trump campaign and the RNC in the aftermath of the 2020 election. McDaniel stepped down from her role as chair of the RNC following a private meeting in February with former President Donald Trump, who tapped her to lead the party after his 2016 presidential election victory.
“Let me deal with the elephant in the room,&#8221; Todd said, looking at Welker. &#8220;I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation because I don’t know what to believe. [McDaniel] is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn’t want to mess up her contract.&#8221;
&#8220;She wants us to believe that she was speaking for the RNC when the RNC was paying for her, so she has credibility issues that she still has to deal with,&#8221; Todd added. &#8220;Is she speaking for herself or is she speaking on behalf of who is paying for her?”
Todd went on to say that he believes many NBC journalists &#8220;are uncomfortable&#8221; with McDaniel&#8217;s hiring &#8220;because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination.&#8221;
&#8220;When NBC made the decision to give her NBC News&#8217; credibility, you have to ask yourself, &#8216;What does she bring NBC News?'&#8221;
Todd added that there&#8217;s an argument to be made for the network bringing McDaniel on to get more access to the Republican Party.
&#8220;If you told me we were hiring her as a technical adviser to the Republican convention, I think that would be certainly defensible,&#8221; he said.
In his critique of NBC, Todd did not mention former RNC Chair Michael Steele, who has worked as a regular MSNBC contributor since 2011. Steele endorsed Joe Biden in his 2020 run against Trump and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/24/lincoln-project-michael-steele-former-head-rnc-joins-anti-trump-group/5625888002/">joined</a> the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.
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Quite a moment on Meet the Press this morning. <a href="https://t.co/1RKvAq7mj2">pic.twitter.com/1RKvAq7mj2</a>
&mdash; Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1771915375501860980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
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McDaniel officially announced her resignation weeks before the RNC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-whatley-lara-trump-elected-to-lead-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> Michael Whatley as chair and Trump&#8217;s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair of the party.
“President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC,” McDaniel said.
“I will do everything possible to re-elect President Trump in November,” she added. “And I ask all of you out there who worked so hard during this primary season or supported another candidate, that you come in and join me in supporting our president as well.”
Todd was ripped for his comments on &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; as many conservatives pointed out that many who are employed by NBC News, including Todd, previously worked for Democrats.
&#8220;Chuck Todd was a Dem staffer. Tim Russert was a Dem staffer. George [Stephanopoulos] was a senior Dem WH staffer. Jen Psaki was a senior Dem WH staffer. But, NBC hired a Republican??!!?! It’s the end of the world,&#8221; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1772052309482012839" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. 
The Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1772062012320763942">added</a>, &#8220;Chuck Todd, a dangerous propagandist who has pushed the Russia collusion lie FOR YEARS, trashes his employers and warns about &#8216;gaslighting&#8217; and &#8216;credibility&#8217; because NBC &#8212; which employs Democrat activists Jen Psaki and Kristen Welker, etc. &#8212; hired a single Republican.&#8221;

Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd Blasts His Own Network On-Air For Hiring Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

Media

Michael Steele

NBC News

Politics

Republican National Committee (RNC)

Ronna Romney McDaniel

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday and cut an ad for the anti-Trump group, The Lincoln Project.
&#8220;I am an American, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order,&#8221; Steele wrote in an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/i-m-republican-voting-joe-biden-over-trump-because-i-ncna1243952" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">op-ed</a> for NBC News. &#8220;And I am voting for Joe Biden on Nov. 3.&#8221;
Steele went on to lay out the reasons for his decision, which he chalked up to Trump failing to live up to the founding principles of the Republican Party.
&#8220;Over the last 150 years, the Republican Party, at its best, built on the legacy of its founders, and championed freedom not only throughout our country but around the world,&#8221; Steele wrote, appealing to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. &#8220;In my lifetime, my party insisted upon not just ending, but winning, the Cold War and toppling murderous regimes that denied basic freedoms to their oppressed people. Republicans also were the lead advocates for market-based economic systems that reduced the rate of extreme poverty globally from over 35 percent in 1990 to less than 10 percent in 2017 — an astonishing but largely overlooked achievement that benefited hundreds of millions.&#8221;
By contrast, Steele argued, Trump cares only about promoting himself. &#8220;Rather than binding up the nation’s wounds, Trump exacerbates division. Rather than standing up to the world’s dictators, Trump cravenly seeks the favor of thugs. Rather than fostering free enterprise, Trump embraces economic principles not only outdated in Lincoln’s time but made even worse today by a leader who lost close to a billion dollars in a single year running a casino. Rather than seeking to build on the legacy of the Republican Party’s founders, of which Trump is surely ignorant, Trump has posited a single purpose for the GOP — the celebration of him.&#8221;
Conceding that many of the issues Trump pinpointed are legitimate grievances, such as sneering coastal elites, education disparity, and impeded economic mobility, Steele maintained that such things should be addressed &#8220;responsibly&#8221; and not &#8220;demagogically.&#8221;
&#8220;I, of course, disagree with Biden on many issues and policies, sometimes vigorously; and it is my fervent hope that he will pursue policies that will help our country heal,&#8221; Steele concluded. &#8220;But this election is not about those issues or policies. Rather, it is about the course of a nation and the character of her people reflected in the leader they choose. I am asking my fellow Americans to consider what is in your best interests, and not Donald Trump’s.&#8221;
Steele, who was the first African American to elected to statewide office in Maryland, served as its lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007. He took the reins of the GOP in 2009 and served as chairman until 2011.
Steele tweeted out the ad he did for The Lincoln Project and urged his followers to vote, saying, &#8220;Where you stand in the moment matters. In this moment, leadership, decency, constitutional norms matter. Character matters. Our vote matters. The president we choose matters. I stand with @JoeBiden because America matters.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Where you stand in the moment matters. In this moment, leadership, decency, constitutional norms matter. Character matters. Our vote matters. The president we choose matters. I stand with <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> because America matters. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vote?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Vote</a> <a href="https://t.co/TGR08YQ3gd">https://t.co/TGR08YQ3gd</a>
&mdash; Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelSteele/status/1318525812417662978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-rnc-chair-michael-steele-trumps-evangelical-paul-bois" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Former RNC Chair Michael Steele: Trump’s Evangelical Backers ‘Need To Shut The Hell Up’</a>

‘Because America Matters’: Ex-RNC Chairman Michael Steele Endorses Biden

2020 Election

Joe Biden

On Thursday, former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Steele appeared on MSNBC to discuss President Trump&#8217;s meeting with rapper Kanye West.
During the segment, Steele said that the president&#8217;s meeting with an African American celebrity didn&#8217;t &#8220;absolve&#8221; him of other things he&#8217;s done or allegedly said:
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Given the tragedy that&#8217;s in Florida; given the international concern regarding a Washington Post reporter; the president entertaining an artist &#8211; okay, fine &#8211; who then comes into the Oval Office. It becomes a backdrop. And he proceeds to bang on the Resolute desk; he begins to use foul language in that space. To me it&#8217;s unsettling. And I think to Chris&#8217; point, that&#8217;s the &#8220;genius&#8221; of Trump, that he offsets these very important things with this kind of maniacal madness known as reality TV presidential politics.
The fact of the matter is, I&#8217;m sorry, meeting with Kanye does not absolve you of your position on Charlottesville; it does not absolve you talking about the continent where my ancestors came from as an s-hole; it does not absolve you of building a wall, or absolve you of locking immigrant children in cages. So you can meet with Kanye; you can have your bromance moment &#8211; but the American people see through it and see it for what it is. And if you think the black community is now gonna to wake up and go, &#8220;Well damn, he met with Kanye. I think I&#8217;ll go vote for Trump!&#8221; That&#8217;s not how that ish works.
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&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry meeting with Kanye does not absolve you on your position on Charlottesville. It does not absolve you of talking about the continent of my ancestors came from as a &#8216;s-hole&#8217;&#8230;of building a wall&#8230;of locking immigrant children in cages&#8221;- <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelSteele?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MichaelSteele</a> w <a href="https://twitter.com/NicolleDWallace?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NicolleDWallace</a> <a href="https://t.co/0u4YKqUf5O">pic.twitter.com/0u4YKqUf5O</a>
&#8212; Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeadlineWH/status/1050498705692987399?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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WATCH: Former RNC Chair Michael Steele Says Meeting With Kanye Doesn’t ‘Absolve’ Trump Of ‘Charlottesville’ Or ‘Building A Wall’

Donald Trump

Kanye West

Two MSNBC analysts falsely claimed on Friday that the Trump administration is operating concentration camps for illegal immigrant children who are separated from their parents.
Guests Stephanie Cutter and Michael Steele made the remarks, which went completely unchallenged by host Stephanie Ruhle.
Cutter, who was a high-level official in Barack Obama&#8217;s 2012 presidential campaign, claimed that what the Trump administration is doing was not the law, just merely their &#8220;interpretation&#8221; of the law.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t find a solution to this problem without harming children? Without putting them in concentration camps?&#8221; Cutter asked, according to the <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/msnbc-calls-centers-holding-migrant-children-concentration-camps/">Free Beacon</a>.
Steele, who is the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), turned the rhetoric up a notch, warning Americans that their children could be next.
&#8220;I call this a concentration camp for kids,&#8221; Steele said. &#8220;When you give kids 22 hours of lock-up time and two hours of airtime, what else can it be? And if this is where this country&#8217;s going, the American people need to wake up and pay attention, because your kids could be next.&#8221;
WATCH:
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MSNBC analysts claim that the Trump administration is currently operating concentration camps. <a href="https://t.co/FziiJpO00q">pic.twitter.com/FziiJpO00q</a>
&#8212; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1007770184415830016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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WATCH: MSNBC Analysts Claim Trump Admin Is Operating Concentration Camps

Trump Administration

Former RNC chairman Michael Steele has some advice for President Trump&#8217;s evangelical backers: &#8220;Shut the hell up.&#8221;
Speak for yourself there, Michael.
Steele delivered his admonition to Evangelicals while on a panel with MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Tuesday. The topic of discussion centered on allegations of Trump&#8217;s past philandering, including recent claims of his paying off porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their affair.
After playing a clip from <a data-beacon="{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;Tony Perkins&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:3,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/tony-perkins&quot;}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="4" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:2" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a>, head of the Family Research Council, explaining that Evangelicals supported Trump based on his policy promises and the people he promoted, Matthews asked his panel if this somehow unravels their moral authority. Needless to say, they were all in agreement.
&#8220;They&#8217;re giving up all the moral authority here,&#8221; said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons.
Matthews then attempted to frame Evangelicals as hypocrites for never giving former President Barack Obama credit for being a good father and being faithful to his wife, as if that would somehow overshadow the man&#8217;s unwavering support for abortion and his empowering sexual impropriety through Planned Parenthood.
The former Republican National Committee chairman had harsher words for Evangelicals.
&#8220;I have a very simple admonition at this point,&#8221; Steele said. &#8220;Just shut the hell up and don&#8217;t ever preach to me about anything ever again. I don&#8217;t want to hear it.&#8221;
Steele added, &#8220;After telling me how to live my life, who to love, what to believe, what not to believe, what to do and what not to do and now you sit back and the prostitutes don&#8217;t matter? The grabbing the you-know-what doesn&#8217;t matter? The outright behavior and lies don&#8217;t matter? Just shut up.&#8221;
Nobody on the panel seemed aware of, much less cared for, the Christian concepts of grace and the hierarchy of moral imperatives. As Jimmy Carter and Obama showed, living an alleged morally principled life privately does not absolve someone of the sins they commit publicly. A man may be a good husband and good father, but if he treats his subordinates at work like trash, promotes objectively evil policies like abortion, assaults religious institutions with the secular arm of the government, then his being a good father and husband (if that is indeed true) is rendered void by the magnitude of their public life.
Evangelicals judge Trump by what he does in the now, not what he did in the past. Unless Trump plans to use the Oval Office as his own private brothel &#8212; like a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton">certain someone</a> two presidents ago &#8212; or to use his position to assault religious institutions or continue the war against unborn children, then his past means nothing to Evangelicals, at least in the Christian understanding of grace, which is what Michael Steele seems to take issue with.
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Former RNC Chair Michael Steele: Trump’s Evangelical Backers ‘Need To Shut The Hell Up’

Chris Matthews

Christianity