The network had just announced four days earlier that it would hire McDaniel to provide “expert insight and analysis” on politics. “There couldn't be a more important moment to have a voice like Rona on our team,” one NBC News executive told staff at the time.
But the company's broadcast personalities, especially those at MSNBC, NBC's liberal-leaning cable affiliate, vehemently objected to McDaniel's promotion of former President Donald Trump's media bashing and false election fraud claims. They argued that it disqualified her from her role in the department.
And on Monday, one by one, they took to the airwaves to deliver that message to their bosses in front of a live audience.
“Wait a minute and admit that probably wasn't the right decision,” MSNBC's top-rated star Rachel Maddow said on her show that night. “Admitting you're wrong is a sign of strength, not weakness.”
NBC broke news of the policy change to employees before notifying McDaniel, said a person familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified to protect credibility.
Two people familiar with the situation said Ms. McDaniel was surprised by the backlash over her hiring and NBC's handling of the issue. She plans to hire a lawyer to deal with her contract issues.
The outrage over her appointment was indicative of a larger struggle TV networks have faced in hiring experts to provide pro-Trump perspectives without clashing with both viewers and their own employees.
For example, CBS News staffers objected two years ago when the station hired Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney, another promoter of the former president's unfounded claims, as a contributor. In the end, he only appeared on air sporadically and left the network after about a year.
But NBC hired Marc Short, Trump's former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, in February without causing any backlash.
NBC officials, both publicly and privately, have maintained that the complaints are not about McDaniel's political affiliation, but about her actions.
“Let me be clear: NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to balance its election coverage,” co-host Mika Brzezinski said Monday on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” “I'm thinking about it,” co-host Mika Brzezinski said. “But it should be a conservative Republican, not someone who used his position of power to deny an anti-democratic election.”
“We welcome the Republican voice,” prime-time host Joy Reid added later in the day. “The reality is this is not a disagreement. She literally supported an illegal plan to steal Michigan's election.”
In a memo to employees, Conde apologized to employees he “felt let down” and said he took responsibility for the hiring failure.
He added that the network remains committed to ideological diversity and “to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek voices representing different parts of the political spectrum.”
Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, told the Post earlier this week that TV producers face a difficult supply problem from critics. .
“Networks are really having a hard time getting Trump supporters on the air consistently,” he said. “You have to be a serious person to be good at it. You can't succeed in the role just by being a conspiracy theorist. They try to find serious people coming out of Trumpworld. But I wasn't really interested.”
During Trump's first presidential campaign and administration, CNN also sought to rally the voices of his supporters. However, some pro-Trump contributors, like Jeffrey Lord, were loudly criticized, while others were erased due to various controversies and scandals.
McDaniel's first appearance as a paid contributor was on Sunday's “Meet the Press,” where host Kristen Welker told the audience that when McDaniel was scheduled to appear a few weeks ago, He made it clear to the audience that he never expected to be his colleague.
She then began attacking guests in interviews, and critics praised her aggression and harshness.
Later in the show, political analyst Chuck Todd questioned McDaniel's “credibility,” telling Welker:.”
The backlash escalated Monday morning when her co-hosts on “Morning Joe” said they had not hired her. Throughout that night's lineup, MSNBC hosts took turns criticizing McDaniel and her hiring decision, with Maddow calling it “baffling.”
Tate James, a network video journalist who heads the union arm representing digital employees, told the Post on Monday that because it is unusual for NBC employees to voice criticism of the network, Todd and “Morning Joe” He said that the comments of the presenters were noteworthy. “They're the NBC establishment, and even they're seeing their executives messed up on this,” he added.
By Tuesday morning, the situation appeared untenable. Even if McDaniel remains with the company, one major channel has already indicated that she is not welcome to appear on the show, and MSNBC president Rashida Jones has no need to book her as a host. I was told that there was no.
Network employees and rival media executives agreed that one of NBC's big failings on this issue was not getting buy-in from the network's stars before hiring McDaniel.
Had NBC not reversed its decision, it would almost certainly have faced further criticism Tuesday night from prime-time hosts Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner, who have Monday night off.
Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.