Former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday she disagrees with former President Donald Trump's plan to release those charged and convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. said.
“Don't you agree with what President Trump said about releasing people who have been indicted?” asked NBC News' “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.
McDaniel, a paid contributor to NBC News, responded: “I don't think the people who committed acts of violence on January 6th should be released.”
“The violence that occurred on January 6th is unacceptable,” McDaniel added.
“It's not representative of our country,” McDaniel said.
“If you attacked the Capitol and were convicted, it should stay that way,” she added.
Still, McDaniel insisted: [Trump] He is responsible for the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
Welker pressed McDaniel on why he didn't speak out sooner about President Trump's plan to release those charged with the Jan. 6 crimes.
“When you're the RNC chair, you kind of take on one thing for the whole team, right? Now I get to be myself a little bit more,” she said.
McDaniel said Sunday that Biden won “fairly and squarely,” adding: “He's the rightful president.”
“I think it's fair to say there were problems in 2020. That doesn't mean he's not a legitimate president,” she added on Sunday.
The statement marks a shift from an interview with Chris Wallace on CNN last year in which he refused to say the election was fair and that “there were a lot of problems in 2020.”
“I don't think he won fairly. I don't think so,” McDaniel said of Biden at the time.
The former RNC chairman is accused of working with Trump to pressure Michigan election officials not to certify the 2020 presidential election there.
On Friday, NBC News announced that McDaniel would join the network as a political analyst. Her contract sparked heavy criticism online, with the Wall Street Journal reporting on Saturday that MSNBC president Rashida Jones told employees that McDaniel would appear on the channel, which is part of the NBC News organization. He reportedly said he had no plans to do so.
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd questions the veracity of McDaniel's statements on Sunday's “Meet the Press” and objects to her appearance as a paid contributor. Ta.
“Look, let me address the elephant in the room,” Todd told Welker in a roundtable after McDaniel's interview. “I think your boss owes you an apology for not knowing what to believe and putting you in this situation. She is currently a paid contributor for NBC News. I don't know if the answer I gave was because I didn't want to jeopardize the deal.
“She wants us to believe that she was speaking on behalf of the RNC when the RNC is paying for it. So she still has credibility that she has to deal with.” There is a problem,” Todd added.
“I think your interview did a good job of revealing a number of contradictions,” he told Welker. “And there's a reason why many journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this, because much of their professional dealings with the RNC over the past six years have been met with gaslighting and character assassination. is.”
An NBC News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, McDaniel said funds donated to Trump's Community Chest Committee could flow first to the group that will pay Trump's legal costs, as long as donors are notified. He said he didn't mind.
“Is it appropriate for Donald Trump to ask donors to pay for his legal costs?” Welker asked.
“Well, I think as long as the donors know that's what they're doing,” McDaniel responded.
McDaniel said the “waterfall” of donations ensured that Save America remains a major vehicle for Trump's legal bill, and that both the Trump campaign and the RNC have filed a lawsuit against Trump, including four criminal charges. It stressed that this means it will not cover the costs of his legal problems. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence.
According to donation forms obtained by NBC News, some of the donations to the Trump 47 Community Chest Committee first went to Save America PAC, an organization that handles Trump's legal costs, and then to the RNC and other organizations. It flows to the Republican Party in each state.
McDaniel also suggested earlier this year that Trump should be nominated as the Republican Party's “presumptive nominee” after the New Hampshire Republican primary, the second Republican nomination contest on the calendar. faced criticism as
On Sunday, he argued that the party was “neutral” during the primary process, citing last fall's Republican primary debate, which Trump refused to attend.
“Our primary was neutral. We debated,” she said, adding, “That's very important to our public discourse. Yes, I was neutral. But… As I said at the time, there was no math, there was no path, that was true. So we needed to harden and solidify behind the candidate.”
Still, McDaniel pointed out that President Trump, who did not attend the debate, did not support them in any capacity.
“There was a lot of tension in the campaign,” McDaniel said. “He really felt like he shouldn't have a debate. He said this in public. I got a lot of phone calls. '' he said.
A direct call from President Trump? Welker asked.
“Everyone in his campaign and I have talked to him,” McDaniel responded.
President Trump was absent from all primary debates, but has said he wants to take the stage in the general election to face off against President Joe Biden. But in 2022, the RNC voted to withdraw from presidential debates, an organization sanctioned by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the organization that has overseen the presidential debate process for decades.
