The director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and a prominent voice in electoral forecasting, Larry Sabato was among those reacting harshly this weekend to former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel transitioning to a role as contributor for NBC.
McDaniel appeared Sunday on the NBC program “Meet the Press” as the subject of an interview. “I watched. She was what I expected: a complete, total LIAR who should never be forgiven for being a senior Trump enabler and trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power. No Traitors,” Sabato wrote on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.
As Sabato referenced, McDaniel was involved in the wide-ranging challenges after the last presidential election to its outcome — an outrage campaign that threatened to derail the effective handling of tens of millions of duly documented U.S. votes for president.
One recently circulated example involved McDaniel’s reported participation in a phone conversation with local officials in Michigan involved in the process of finalizing the 2020 election results. Donald Trump himself also reportedly participated in the discussion, and available details say McDaniel and Trump dangled the prospect of legal representation for the targeted officials if they advanced the Trump camp’s ambitions. It led to suggestions the situation may have constituted attempts at bribery.
McDaniel coming onboard at NBC drew extensive condemnation. Journalist Mehdi Hasan — formerly himself with MSNBC — characterized the move as beyond the pale. “It seems that multiple media networks were interested in hiring Ronna McDaniel – whose RNC referred to a violent insurrection as ‘legitimate political discourse’ – which tells us that our media is broken & 2024 election coverage will be 2016 on steroids,” Hasan told X.
At the RNC, which is the main national organization for the Republican Party, leadership has become pro-Trump to an even greater degree, with the former president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump now a vice chair.
