NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie said the infamous Ronna McDaniel debacle made for “an unpleasant few days at our network” on Tuesday before declaring she had nothing to do with the decision.
NBC News made waves last month when it announced McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, would join NBC as a paid contributor across all platforms, including MSNBC. But backlash to the hiring was swift, and McDaniel was shown the door days after she made her debut on “Meet the Press.” During that show, Chuck Todd unleashed on NBC leadership. A variety of MSNBC hosts followed his lead and shot inside the tent with on-air criticism of management.
Guthrie, who was among NBC News’ only stars to refrain from bashing the decision to hire McDaniel, was asked about the ordeal during a Tuesday appearance on CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
NBC NEWS LEADERSHIP UNDER FIRE OVER RONNA MCDANIEL DEBACLE
NBCs Savannah Guthrie joined Stephen Colbert on Tuesday and spoke about NBCs hiring and firing of former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. (Screenshot/CBS/StephenColbert)
The liberal CBS host asked, “Why did you, Savannah Guthrie, personally make that decision to hire her? And I want you to answer for your crimes. Why did you think that was the best idea?”
Guthrie – who obviously didn’t make the decision, as that fell on NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde, who oversees NBC News, CNBC, and MSNBC, along with executives Carrie Budoff Brown and Rebecca Blumenstein – joked that she still works there before offering an answer.
“It was an unpleasant few days at our network, no question about it,” Guthrie said.
OPINION: WHAT NBC’S RONNA MCDANIEL DEBACLE REVEALS ABOUT THE STATE OF JOURNALISM TODAY
NBC News and MSNBC hosts objected to the hiring of former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Colbert then asked if she knew what was going to happen.
“Absolutely not,” she responded. “I was not in the know. I knew nothing about it, and look, the bosses made a decision. They reversed that decision, they acknowledged a mistake, and we moved on.”
Guthrie, who co-hosts NBC’s flagship “Today,” went on to imply she was on board with the move to terminate McDaniel despite a need for non-liberal pundits.
“The only thing I’ll say about it, is No. 1 I didn’t have anything to do with it, but look, I think the instinct to try to have a diversity of opinions and a diversity of perspectives abs voices, as we cover an election, is the right instinct. And, it’s complex, and it’s made more complex by the politics that we have right now,” she said.
“I went to law school, and in law school we learned that if you didn’t engage the counter argument, if you didn’t know what all sides were saying, your own position was quite weak,” Guthrie continued. “So, I feel that, particularly in mainstream media, we need to include an array of voices, but there is a line, and the line is truth. The line is facts, and the line is, you have to be someone upholding our democracy.”
A plethora of MSNBC hosts have insisted they didn’t object to McDaniel simply because she is a Republican, but rather for her role in questioning the 2020 election. The extraordinary rebuke of network leadership from Todd, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Jen Psaki, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell has put a harsh spotlight on Conde and his underlings.
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McDaniel has hired legal representation and is seeking all $600,000 of her two-year contract. Since she only appeared for 20 minutes on NBC, that would amount to $500 per second of airtime.
Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.
