NBC News’ journalist Chuck Todd believes his bosses need to make an apology.
During a segment of “Meet The Press” Sunday, Todd addressed the network’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and the decision to have the show’s host, Kristen Welker, interview her.
“Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our bosses at NBC owe you an apology for putting you in this situation. Because I don’t know what to believe,” he told Welker.
He went on:
“[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. 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.”
Watch the video below:
WATCH: Chuck Todd just attacked his own network, NBC News, over hiring Ronna McDaniel. "Our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation," he told Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. "There's a reason why there's a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with… pic.twitter.com/gjjhy7s4TN
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) March 24, 2024
Todd went on to say “a lot” of NBC journalists are “uncomfortable” because “many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gas lighting, have been met with character assassination, so that’s where you begin here.”
Finally, Todd bemoaned the “impossible situation” Welker was put in by booking McDaniel for the interview and then finding out she was “being paid to show up.”
“It is unfortunate for this program, but I am glad you did the best that you could,” he added.
Politico reports the decision to hire McDaniel has set off a firestorm at NBC. One source told Politico, “No hosts or correspondents were given any kind of heads up on this.”
“People are pissed. It is a deeply unpopular move,” they added.
