Television

“I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” NBC News head Cesar Conde wrote in a memo to staff. “No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal.”

“I have decided.” How lordly.

NBC political news director Carrie Budoff Brown, who came from Politico, had crowed at McDaniel’s hiring, which she orchestrated, saying, “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team.” She insisted that McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.”

“A voice like Ronna’s.” Really?

Here’s the thing: McDaniel couldn’t deliver “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” Or anything else

Yes, McDaniel supported Trump’s election lies and his insurrection. It should have disqualified her. But also, in television terms: She was not charismatic, convincing, or even articulate.

. . . McDaniel sputtered, and lied, repeatedly. She claimed that she was merely worried about the safety of Wayne County, Mich., election officials—yes, Detroit is the county seat—when she and Trump called (the call was recorded) to urge them not to certify their local election results. That was bullshit. Trump and McDaniel were plainly trying to get their local allies to refuse to certify the vote in a major Democratic stronghold. Welker tried to counter as many lies as she could, but it was like playing television whack-a-mole.