NBC Reporters Forced To ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ With Republican Sources After Ronna McDaniel Debacle

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Reporters at NBC News have been forced to “pick up the pieces” after the network’s hiring and then firing of former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel left conservative sources disgruntled.

An unnamed NBC News journalist told Semafor that while reporters “didn’t take part in the backlash, nor did they get to give input on the hire,” they are “the ones who have to pick up the pieces with sources who are now dismayed with the organization.”

According to Semafor, NBC News reporters had been “fielding texts from angry GOP sources” following the news and are concerned that the McDaniel debacle “only alienated liberal viewers while confirming Republican fears.”

Semafor reportedly spoke to several Republican aides who expressed their displeasure with the firing of McDaniel directly to contacts at NBC News.

NBCU News Group Chairman Cesar Conde announced on Tuesday that the company was reversing its decision to hire McDaniel as a contributor after top stars at NBC and MNSBC condemned the move.

Rachel Maddow, Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Jen Psaki all came out against the decision to hire McDaniel and delivered monologues on-air urging management to reconsider.

The subsequent decision to fire the former RNC chair also proved controversial, with Republican commentators accusing the network of hypocrisy and censorship.

“It really is outrageous. This is censorship!” protested NewsNation correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who blamed McDaniel’s firing on a “cabal of aging superstars.”

Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, meanwhile, predicted that McDaniel would sue NBC for “intentional infliction of mental distress.”