- Former RNC chairman joined NBC News as a political contributor
- McDaniel stepped down from the GOP leadership earlier this month
Former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has gotten a new job. She joins NBC News as a contributor and will share analysis across all of the network’s news platforms.
McDaniel announced in late February that she would step down from her GOP leadership role earlier this month after pressure from former President Donald Trump, who publicly endorsed close loyalist Michael Whatley and daughter-in-law Lara Trump for leadership as he approached the Republican presidential nomination. lecture.
NBC News Senior Vice President of Politics Carrie Budoff Brown made the announcement in a memo Friday, saying McDaniel would contribute expert insight and analysis on politics and 2024.
“It couldn’t be a more important time to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team. As chair of the Republican National Committee, she spent nearly eight years at the highest levels of American politics before resigning earlier this year,” Brown wrote.
“As we prepare for the longest general election campaign in recent history, she will bolster our industry-leading reporting by providing an insider perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party,” she added.
Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has joined NBC News as a political contributor
McDaniel with then-President Trump the year she was elected chair of the RNC in 2017
McDaniel was first elected chairman of the RNC in 2017. Previously, she chaired the Michigan Republican Party and helped deliver the state to Trump in 2016.
She is the granddaughter of the late Michigan Governor George Romney and the niece of Utah Senator Mitt Romney.
But under her leadership of the RNC, while Trump was president, Republicans lost the House and Senate and then the White House in 2020.
After Trump lost, the RNC made multiple allegations of election fraud, and McDaniel helped promote multiple falsehoods about the election.
In 2022, the RNC under her leadership also voted on a censure resolution, condemning then-Rep. Liz Cheney and then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, two GOP members on the House committee on January 6.
In her announcement that she would resign as RNC chair on March 8, McDaniel said she would do so to give the party nominee the opportunity to pick a seat of her choice.
“The RNC has historically undergone changes once we had a nominee, and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition. “I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans in November.”
McDaniel hands the gavel to her co-chair after delivering her final speech as chair on March 8
Michael Whatley (left) was elected chairman of the RNC and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump (right) was elected co-chair during the RNC’s spring meeting on March 8
Earlier this month, the RNC unanimously selected Michael Whatley, who served as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, as the RNC’s next leader, as well as Lara Trump as co-chair.
McDaniel isn’t the only former political leader or government official to join NBC.
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki got a show on MSNBC last year. Symone Sanders, spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, also hosts a show on the cable network.
Others contributing to the reporting include Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskell, and former Ohio Governor John Kasich.