(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The White House has responded to NBC News’s appointment of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor.
Speaking from the White House press briefing podium, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that McDaniel’s joining NBC News and MSNBC constitutes an “attack on our democracy” — as reported by the Daily Caller.
Jean-Pierre’s remarks followed CNN White House correspondent MJ Lee’s inquiry into McDaniel’s hiring despite the White House’s condemnation of what they deemed to be falsehoods about Jan. 6.
KJP was asked about NBC’s decision to hire former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel:
“Do you, does this White House, does the president believe that that kind of voice, a voice like hers, that there’s room for her in the national political discourse?” pic.twitter.com/PZEOZRNaYQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 25, 2024
McDaniel made her debut on the Sunday edition of NBC News’s Meet the Press, where she denounced Jan. 6 as an act not representative of the Republican Party.
In a lengthy and incoherent commentary on Jan. 6, Jean-Pierre emphasized the media’s “burden” to inform Americans about “the facts” and “the truth,” directing her remarks specifically towards McDaniel and Jan. 6.
“We’re always very mindful about personnel decisions and this instance, made by a media organization,” Jean-Pierre claimed, according to the Daily Caller. Later in her response, she referenced President Joe Biden’s highlighting of the Jan. 6 events, which have become a central, if not the sole, focus of his weak reelection campaign.
She further elaborated, quoting Biden: “‘We need you. Democracy is at risk. And the American people need to know, in fractured times — they need a context and a perspective. They need substance to match the enormity of the task.’ It is a big task that journalists have, and we understand that.”
When Lee persisted with her question about whether there was “room” for McDaniel in the “national political discourse,” Jean-Pierre regurgitated her Jan. 6 remarks.
“Look, I’ll answer it this way: We saw what happened on January 6. We saw what happened when 2,000 people, a mob, went to the Capitol and undermined our democracy, attacked our democracy, because they didn’t believe in free and fair elections,” Jean-Pierre asserted.
“It is important that we are very clear to the public about the facts, that we are very clear to the public about the truth and we understand the burden that you all have. And so, I just want to be super mindful —not commenting on a personnel decision — but more broadly speaking, that is where we are. That is where we are as a country,” she later added.
