RNC threatens to ban NBC from GOP convention after Ronna McDaniel's firing

In the wake of NBC's hiring, and then quickly dropping, former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel amid backlash from the network's staff and viewers, the RNC is threatening to block the network from covering the party's convention.

McDaniel, as many news outlets and journalists have pointed out, played a significant role in former president Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election's results.

Speaking to Politico, RNC and Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said the organization's "priority is making sure this is a world-class event that allows President Trump to feature his message and vision in a fair way."

“It appears that it’s up to Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow as to whether NBC will participate in the convention since we just learned that NBC is held hostage by their ‘talent,’” he added.

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As Vanity Fair's Eric Lutz points out, NBC TV personalities Maddow and Todd were the most prominent faces to blast their own network over McDaniel's hiring which, coupled with the growing pressure from the left-leaning political spectrum, prompted the network's eventual decision to let McDaniel go.

But the controversy wasn't going to just end there.

"Trump and his allies, who had pushed her out as RNC chair days earlier, quickly used the dismissal as grist for their attacks on the mainstream media, weighing whether to limit NBC’s access at the GOP convention in July, though it’s unclear if and to what extent they can make good on them," Lutz writes.

"Technically, credentialing for the convention is run by the House Periodical Press Gallery, which told Politico it would not revoke access based on party pressure."

According to Lutz, the RNC could find other ways to hinder NBC's access to the event. But it's still questionable if they will follow through even if a way to block NBC is found.

"The MAGA right already got what they wanted out of all this, anyway: a gift-wrapped opportunity to attack the credibility of the press," he wrote.