The Republican National Committee Thursday offered conflicting messages about whether it planned to punish NBC by withholding access over its treatment of former chair Ronna McDaniel.
A spokesperson said the organization was taking a ‘hard look’ at the network’s participation at this summer’s convention, when Donald Trump will officially become the party’s nominee.
Meanwhile, the new RNC chair pushed back on the idea, saying Republicans had to use all available avenues to reach voters.
NBC News announced Tuesday that McDaniel, who repeatedly raised questions about the result of the 2020 election, would not appear on the network as a paid contributor after a backlash by journalists and anchors at MSNBC.
The RNC in 2016 voted against allowing CNN and NBC to hold presidential debates in protest at their coverage.
NBC announced Tuesday it was not going to use Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor after a backlash from presenters and journalists, mostly at its liberal MSNBC channel
McDaniel’s successor Michael Whatley told Sean Spicer that Republicans should use all avenues to reach voters and pushed back on the idea of a convention ban
And Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for the RNC and the Trump campaign, suggested it could be looking escalating the rift with NBC.
‘We are taking a hard look at what this means for NBC’s participation at the convention,’ she told Politico.
‘Our priority is making sure this is a world class event that allows President Trump to feature his message and vision in a fair way.’
Michael Whatley, Donald Trump’s pick to succeed McDaniel, discussed the issue with former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
But he pushed back on the idea that the network should be denied access to the July convention in Milwaukee.
‘Is the mainstream media going to treat us fairly? No. Have they ever treated us fairly? No, they’re not going to do it,’ he said.
‘Does that mean that we want to necessarily never go on there and never try to reach those target audiences that they cover?
‘I don’t think so.’
McDaniel has not spoken publicly about her experience. But reports suggest that she is expecting to be paid out her two-year contract, worth a total of $600,000.
‘If they don’t want our voices on their air, then we shouldn’t give them the credibility of putting people on them, letting them come to our events and spew vitriol,’ said Sean Spicer
McDaniel served as RNC chair while Trump was president. She stepped down from that job amid pressure from Trump on March 8
She was dumped only four days after announcing she was joining the network as a political contributor.
The announcement sparked an immediate backlash from on-air talent across the network.
In a statement Tuesday evening, NBCUniversal chairman Cesar Conde said: ‘After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.’
During her time as RNC chair she promoted Trump’s false election fraud claims. It was one of the reasons her hiring at NBC sparked backlash from network employees.
At the same time, the path from political official to NBC is well trodden.
Jen Psaki, who served as White House press secretary in the Biden administration and Symone Sanders who was spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris have both made the leap to paid contributor.
Whatley said it showed a double standard in play among presenters such as Chuck Todd, who melted down about McDaniel but made not protest over the hiring of officials from the Democratic side.
‘I would say is this you got to even wonder if Chuck Todd is going to allow his bosses to cover the convention,’ he said.
‘You know, we really need to look right now at every single platform that’s available for us to get our message out there.
‘One of the great things that we saw from President Trump in 2016 was his ability to directly communicate with the voters.
‘He was able to do that through the networks. He was able to do it on social media. I think he frankly invented social media as a political platform.’
Spicer, who was RNC communications director, pointed out that the organization did not let NBC host a presidential debate in 2016.
‘What punishment should NBC face for not …’ he said.
‘If they don’t want our voices on their air, then we shouldn’t give them the credibility of putting people on them, letting them come to our events and spew vitriol.’