Ronna Romney McDaniel, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and now a (very controversial) contributor to NBC News, went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
And this exchange happened between McDaniel and “MTP” anchor Kristen Welker:
Welker: Well, let's talk about the election now. Donald Trump says one of his first acts, if he is re-elected to a second term, would be, quote, "to free those charged and convicted of crimes related to January 6th." Do you support that?
McDaniel: I want to be very clear. The violence that happened on January 6th is unacceptable. It doesn't represent our country. It certainly does not represent my party. We should not be attacking the Capitol. We should not be having violence. I said it that day. I put a statement out that day, that this is not acceptable. If you attacked our Capitol and you have been -- and you have been convicted, then that should stay.Welker: So then -- but to the question, though, do you disagree with Trump saying he's going to free those who've been charged and convicted?
McDaniel: I do not think people who committed violent acts on January 6th should be freed.
Welker: So you disagree with that. He's been saying that for months, Ronna. Why not speak out earlier? Why just speak out about that now?
McDaniel: When you're the RNC chair, you, kind of, take one for the whole team, right? Now I get to be, a little bit, more myself, right? This is what I believe. I don't think violence should be in our political discourse, Republican or Democrat.
This “take-one-for-the-team” argument wove through almost all of McDaniel’s answers. Whether it was the above exchange on January 6 or her past refusals to say Joe Biden was elected fair and square in 2020, McDaniel’s basic response was: I was just being a good soldier.
I call bullshit.
Look. It is absolutely true that when you run a party organization — like the RNC and or the Democratic National Committee — you subsume some (most?) of your own personal views on politics. The job is to be the figurehead of the party — and so you are trying to channel the broad consensus of beliefs from within your rank and file.
Like, you may think the corporate tax rate should be lower. But, the party’s nominee doesn’t. So you don’t say anything. Or you think we should, broadly, be in favor of free trade. But the party is more protectionist. So you don’t say anything.
I get it. And I get why McDaniel is making the “team” argument. It’s her best defense.
But, it’s not a good defense. And here’s why: Because there are some things that can’t be overlooked. There are some things where “I was just following orders” is indefensible.
In my view, the sanctity of national elections is one of those things.
McDaniel didn’t stay silent in the face of a policy disagreement with Trump. Instead, she acquiesced to his false claims that the election was rigged — that he had actually won.
Here was McDaniel in an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year:
“I think there were lots of problems with 2020. Ultimately [Biden] won the election, but there were lots of problems with the 2020 election. I don’t think he won it fair. I don’t. I’m not going to say that.”
And, even in her interview on Sunday, McDaniel was trying to cling to the life raft of alleged problems in the 2020 election.
After acknowledging that “the reality is Joe Biden won. He's the president,” McDaniel added: “I have always said, and I continue to say, there were issues in 2020. I believe that both can be true. You can say massive laws were changed; they were changed through courts or through secretaries of state and not through the legislative process.”
Which, again, I call BS on. It is true that early voting and absentee laws were loosened to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. But NO credible source has concluded that those changes amounted to election interference or in any way invalidated the results.
This, from the Associated Press, is worth reminding ourselves of:
An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election…
…The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all those votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.
On this, I think, we have to take a stand. It is fundamentally different to go along with false claims about a rigged national election than it is to go along with a policy position with which you, personally, disagree.
This is about the fundamental tenets of democracy. About belief in our system of government. About the peaceful transfer of power.
Going along to get along isn’t good enough when the stakes are that high.
Life is about choices. And those choices should have consequences.
McDaniel said what she did about the election because she wanted to keep her job as the head of the RNC. She knew that if she broke with Trump on his pet issue, he would push her out. (Spoiler alert: He pushed her out anyway!)
So, she acted out of self preservation. Which is her choice! But actions should have consequences in our world.
Right? Right!
Her hiring by NBC is full, in your face evidence that NBC has subsumed truth telling for what they hope will be higher ratings. That premise is laughable. Do they really think Trumpers are going to watch MSNBC now because the person who Trump removed as RNC chair now appears on that network?. What is more likely is that MSNBC will lose viewers from their core audience who will, rightly, protest the hiring of this Trump apologist. Ronna is a disgusting hypocrite who should not be allowed anywhere near a legitimate news organization. The fact that NBC/MSNBC hired her has knocked their legitimacy down a peg or two in my opinion
Chris
You NAILED IT! i can't believe any reputable TV show has her as a commentator. My only question...where do i get a gig like that? Ronna is the worst kind of human. I remember signing a controversial faculty letter WHEN I DID NOT HAVE TENURE, it was the right, moral thing to do. Many of us, every day, do hard things. I am flummoxed that these people are not held to account. oy vey