Mick Mulvaney defends Ronna McDaniel amid NBC turmoil

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is dismissing criticism NBC News is facing from some of the network’s biggest stars over its decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

“This has nothing to do with Ronna McDaniel’s behavior during Jan. 6 or the 2020 election,” Mulvaney said Monday during an appearance on cable news channel NewsNation. “NBC just cannot stand having somebody from the right on their sacred airwaves. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be hysterically funny.”

McDaniel’s hire, which was announced by NBC late last week, has sparked sharp pushback from some of NBC’s leading anchors and journalists — and those on its left-leaning sister cable news network, MSNBC.

McDaniel has come under fire for her comments on the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, stances she defended during an interview on “Meet The Press” over the weekend.

Several MSNBC hosts ridiculed McDaniel on Monday, blasting her as an apologist of former President Trump and using the network’s airwaves to express outrage NBC had put her on the payroll with a reported six-figure deal.

Host Rachel Maddow called the hiring “inexplicable,” while pundit Nicolle Wallace accused the network of “wittingly or unwittingly” sending a message to “election deniers” that they can have a platform on the network.

“Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said McDaniel would not be appearing on their program, while Maddow said she would not be appearing on MSNBC at all.

Mulvaney, who worked as chief of staff to Trump, faced a similar backlash last spring when it was announced he was being hired by CBS News as a contributor.

Mulvaney has since been hired as a contributor at NewsNation, a cable news channel that like The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group.

“I’m having a good laugh,” he said. “It’s so fun to watch these folks fall over themselves.”