Ronna McDaniel speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute's 'A Time for Choosing Speaker Series' at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on April 20, 2023 in Simi Valley, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images).
March 28, 2024
If you’re seeking employment at the Republican National Committee, you’re likely to be asked in your job interview if you believe that the 2020 election was stolen. If you say no, well, you might as well seek to work on George Santos’s next campaign.
At the Republican National Committee — newly reorganized under Trump — agreeing to Trump’s false claim has become a kind of litmus test for employment, just as it’s become a litmus test for almost every Republican running for public office.
Even if you already have a job at the RNC, don’t count on keeping it if you fail to agree to the lie. According to TheWashington Post, Trump advisers have been quizzing multiple employees who had worked in key 2024 states about their views on the 2020 presidential election.
Hell, even if you’ve repeated the big lie multiple times in the media, you might still lose your RNC job. Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel lost hers even though she continued to echo Trump’s election lies.
McDaniel even participated in a November 17, 2020, phone call in which Trump pressured two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to sign the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to recordings reviewed by The Detroit News.
None of this was enough for Tump. Trump fired McDaniel because she was insufficiently loyal to him.
But she was too loyal to him to land a new job. McDaniel was hired by NBC last week as a paid contributor, until network anchors and reporters revolted. They argued that by hiring her, NBC gave a green light for election deniers to spread lies as paid contributors. On Tuesday, NBC revoked McDaniel’s hire.
The New York Times said the episode underscores the challenge to news organizations “of fairly representing … pro-Trump viewpoints in their coverage.”
The real problem is there can’t be any “fair” representation of pro-Trump Republican viewpoints as long as those viewpoints are centered on the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
A political party that baselessly denies the outcome of an election has no legitimate claim to be “represented” in the media.
Nor should any official who has gone along with the lie expect a job in a news organization.
The fact is, neither NBC nor any other legitimate news organization can find someone with integrity to defend Trump or act as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party he now controls, because no one with integrity would do so.
“Wow!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “Ronna McDaniel got fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear. It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be.”
If anything, Trump understates the trap he’s sprung, not just on McDaniel but on the Republican Party.
The entire MAGA Republican Party is now in Never Neverland. And it’s a place no one with a shred of integrity would want to be.
So beware that RNC job interview.
If you’re seeking employment at the Republican National Committee, you’re likely to be asked in your job interview if you believe that the 2020 election was stolen. If you say no, well, you might as well seek to work on George Santos’s next campaign.
At the Republican National Committee — newly reorganized under Trump — agreeing to Trump’s false claim has become a kind of litmus test for employment, just as it’s become a litmus test for almost every Republican running for public office.
Even if you already have a job at the RNC, don’t count on keeping it if you fail to agree to the lie. According to TheWashington Post, Trump advisers have been quizzing multiple employees who had worked in key 2024 states about their views on the 2020 presidential election.
Hell, even if you’ve repeated the big lie multiple times in the media, you might still lose your RNC job. Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel lost hers even though she continued to echo Trump’s election lies.
McDaniel even participated in a November 17, 2020, phone call in which Trump pressured two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to sign the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to recordings reviewed by The Detroit News.
None of this was enough for Tump. Trump fired McDaniel because she was insufficiently loyal to him.
But she was too loyal to him to land a new job. McDaniel was hired by NBC last week as a paid contributor, until network anchors and reporters revolted. They argued that by hiring her, NBC gave a green light for election deniers to spread lies as paid contributors. On Tuesday, NBC revoked McDaniel’s hire.
The New York Times said the episode underscores the challenge to news organizations “of fairly representing … pro-Trump viewpoints in their coverage.”
The real problem is there can’t be any “fair” representation of pro-Trump Republican viewpoints as long as those viewpoints are centered on the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
A political party that baselessly denies the outcome of an election has no legitimate claim to be “represented” in the media.
Nor should any official who has gone along with the lie expect a job in a news organization.
The fact is, neither NBC nor any other legitimate news organization can find someone with integrity to defend Trump or act as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party he now controls, because no one with integrity would do so.
“Wow!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “Ronna McDaniel got fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear. It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be.”
If anything, Trump understates the trap he’s sprung, not just on McDaniel but on the Republican Party.
The entire MAGA Republican Party is now in Never Neverland. And it’s a place no one with a shred of integrity would want to be.
So beware that RNC job interview.
Does the GOP have a future?
ONLY IN THE WALL ST DEMOCRAT PARTY
Ronna McDaniel stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while addressing the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).
Ronna McDaniel stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while addressing the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).
March 27, 2024
Ronna McDaniel’s tenure at NBC lasted four days. It ended last night, after network anchors and reporters blasted NBC’s decision to hire her last Friday. They argued that hiring her gave a green light for election deniers to spread lies as paid contributors. The New York Times said the episode underscored the challenge to news organizations “of fairly representing … pro-Trump viewpoints in their coverage.”
But can there be any “fair” representation of pro-Trump Republican viewpoints when those viewpoints center on a big lie about the 2020 election? More broadly, can a party that baselessly denies the outcome of an election have any legitimate future?
My grandfather was a lifelong Republican. My father was a Republican until Bill Clinton appointed me labor secretary. I got my first job in Washington under a Republican president — Gerald Ford. I worked closely with several Republicans in Congress to raise the minimum wage and enact the Family and Medical Leave Act.
But that was the old Republican Party. It cared about governing. It was principled (although I disagreed with many of those principles).
Today’s Republican Party doesn’t care about governing, and it has no principles. It’s a MAGA Party that cares only about power.
It’s getting worse. Twenty percent of the 40 most senior House Republicans are retiring, even though just three of them are in their 70s or older.
The retirements are disproportionately moderate — “moderate,” that is, as compared with their Republican colleagues. Those retirees include five of the 20 Republicans with the worst ratings on the MAGA-aligned conservative group Heritage Action’s scorecard. Nearly half (17) of the 40 House Republicans with the highest 2021 Bipartisan Index ratings are heading for the exits.
Ronna McDaniel’s tenure at NBC lasted four days. It ended last night, after network anchors and reporters blasted NBC’s decision to hire her last Friday. They argued that hiring her gave a green light for election deniers to spread lies as paid contributors. The New York Times said the episode underscored the challenge to news organizations “of fairly representing … pro-Trump viewpoints in their coverage.”
But can there be any “fair” representation of pro-Trump Republican viewpoints when those viewpoints center on a big lie about the 2020 election? More broadly, can a party that baselessly denies the outcome of an election have any legitimate future?
My grandfather was a lifelong Republican. My father was a Republican until Bill Clinton appointed me labor secretary. I got my first job in Washington under a Republican president — Gerald Ford. I worked closely with several Republicans in Congress to raise the minimum wage and enact the Family and Medical Leave Act.
But that was the old Republican Party. It cared about governing. It was principled (although I disagreed with many of those principles).
Today’s Republican Party doesn’t care about governing, and it has no principles. It’s a MAGA Party that cares only about power.
It’s getting worse. Twenty percent of the 40 most senior House Republicans are retiring, even though just three of them are in their 70s or older.
The retirements are disproportionately moderate — “moderate,” that is, as compared with their Republican colleagues. Those retirees include five of the 20 Republicans with the worst ratings on the MAGA-aligned conservative group Heritage Action’s scorecard. Nearly half (17) of the 40 House Republicans with the highest 2021 Bipartisan Index ratings are heading for the exits.
Robert Reich is a professor at Berkeley and was secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. You can find his writing at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
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