The Pro-Coup Perspective

NBC News shouldn’t have hired Ronna McDaniel.

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Ronna McDaniel delivers remarks before the NBC News-hosted Republican presidential primary debate in Miami, Florida, on November 8, 2023. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In a world in which Jen Psaki and George Stephanopoulos anchor their own shows, by what right should a former head of the Republican National Committee be blackballed by news networks?

Psaki served as White House press secretary for the sitting president. Stephanopoulos was a White House adviser to Bill Clinton who now spends his days shaming Republican guests for, of all things, not taking their leader’s sexual misconduct seriously. If American news media can find space for partisan hacks from the left, why shouldn’t it find space for Ronna McDaniel?

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    “Ronna “Don’t Say Romney” McDaniels”

    Ha!

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  2. Jeff J

    Good article. However, Nick was a little disingenuous when he wrote “ Not only has America failed to deter future coup plots by penalizing the last one harshly, the way we’ve treated the plotters has arguably incentivized them.”. Whether convicted or not, many of spent millions defending themselves, have lost law licenses, etc. It is not clear to me that my MAGA friends actually believe the election was “stolen”, but that they saw a lot that raises questions in their minds amid an avalanche of confirmation bias. They are all uncomfortable having to “kiss the ring” though.

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  3. Bop

    Nick's formulation and reasoning are must reading and deserve further debate and broader dissemination. This election is about the first order issues. Focusing on what NBC did or undid misses the point.

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  4. Austin from Atlanta

    Irrespective of our personal opinions, the reason Nick's message does not resonate with those who don't already agree is that they don't see it as a choice between "overthrowing the government" and "peaceful transfer of power." To remind ourselves of the basics, her being on NBC does not overthrow the government & there is a difference between opposing the stealing of elections and wanting to actively punish anyone tangentially involved.

    I find the Trump 2020 election scheming gross & disqualifying for elected office. But people can tell a difference between someone trying to steal an election and someone going on Fox News and making irresponsible comments or even offering to help a bad person get lawyers.

    You can insist on categorical thinking where anyone who did not fervently denounce Trump's efforts is banned from public life, but most Americans will take a more nuanced approach - also evaluating proximity & specifics.

    I don't think she enacted with integrity. I wouldn't vote for her. But I'm not going to spill 2,500 words on why she should be canceled and/or lose her new job. There are a lot of deeply flawed people out there. There are a lot of deeply flawed people at NBC. Rabidly policing one vice feels more obsessive than rational to me. She is guilty of hurting the civic discourse by playing footsy with someone who was doing something bad, though he had no plausible mechanism to actually steal the election. That is bad. I'm just not going to make it the only thing that matters in the public sphere.

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  5. Tom Johnson

    Non-D/R's are sorely underrepresented. Hire Justin Amash!

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  6. Avatar photo
    JohnD

    Nick - while your argument is persuasive, in the end I have to disagree. The only way we can all defeat Trumpism is by giving it some light. The major networks along with major media outlets have to include the Trump populist, nationalistic perspective. I believe this exposure will both help to moderate Trumpism as well as defeat its worst elements. Also, if these media types had ANY cohones, they would have resigned their positions, rather than bitterly wine to the bosses at NBC. What cowards!

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  7. Aileen Gronewold

    Excellent.

    "I support Biden in this election because he’s correct on the first-order questions and Trump isn’t, and that’s the end of the matter for me. Sedition is disqualifying. Those guilty of trying to overturn the constitutional order in 2020 deserve to sit in the ashes and know that they’ll never again be tolerated in polite society, let alone be permitted to wield public power." Wow. Too bad Steve Hayes couldn't bring himself to say this

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    1. Avatar photo
      Theirnscott

      I'll cut Steve some slack on this. It would have been great to voice this sentiment on live TV. But Live extemporaneous TV is different from writing an essay.

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  8. Jasmine Clark

    All of this is very well said. NBC make a big mistake here. It's sad and scary how many people in this country think the results of the 2020 election are unclear or up for debate. The results of the 2020 election aren't some kind of "both sides" thing where two different sides are allowed to have their opinions. Biden's victory is a fact, not a matter of opinion. Sadly, a lot of people think it's a matter of opinion and it's something that requires "both sides" to have their voices heard.

    This is dangerous. Your quote here explains why:

    "First-order concerns have to do with how our system of government is organized—democracy or autocracy, rules or “retribution,” the constitutional order or “knowing what time it is.” Second-order concerns have to do with traditional policy disputes—tax rates, pro-life or pro-choice, interventionism or isolationism. Our elections have traditionally focused on second-order concerns because both sides have agreed broadly on the first-order ones. Not anymore."

    Exactly. You have to have a solid foundation before you build a house. If the foundation is broken and messed up, it doesn't matter if you build the fanciest house ever. The house will collapse. It's the same with this country. The fact that the people can elect their leaders in a peaceful transfer of power is one of the foundational elements of America. If that foundational element is broken, the damage will spread in various ways across all other issues in the entire country.

    Trump doesn't believe that the people should have the power to elect leaders in a peaceful transfer of power. Putting him in charge of the country is like building a house on top of a broken foundation. I support Biden for this reason (and for the reason of Biden's support of Ukraine and NATO). I encourage everyone, please vote for Biden. You may not feel happy to do it but it's important to do it anyway. Our country's foundation is at stake.

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  9. Chek6Man

    Who cares? Who listens to these people? Have you ever listened to Donna Brazile ( Chair of the Democratic National Committee twice) on This Week? She apologizes weekly for every mistake Biden makes. She also defends Biden on the Afghan withdrawal and blames Trump. These former political hacks are just cashing checks and offering no real insight.

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    1. Norcal

      Didn't Donna also slip debate questions to Hillary ahead of a debate?

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  10. Bandrpeele

    This article reads like an obsession. NBC hired one low-talent pol. That is not a major story -- they will surely hire many others.

    There is more than one type of sedition. Trump and his MAGA idiots engaged in one type. Biden's handlers, by issuing unconstitutional executive orders and thumbing their nose at the Supreme Court, are engaging in another type of sedition.

    I choose not to vote for either type of sedition. For the third Presidential election in a row, I will be voting third party, or no party. If Trump wins, I will accept no blame. I gladly supported his opponents in the Republican primaries. If you MAGAs wanted to stop Trump, you had the chance, and did not. That is not my fault.

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    1. Jasmine Clark

      Nothing Biden did is as bad as trying to steal an election.

      Trump lost a presidential election and tried to remain president anyway. The people voted for someone else, and Trump didn't care. This is exactly the same thing that happens in dictatorships. We in America don't live in a dictatorship. We have the power to vote for our leaders. But Trump tried to take away that power.

      There are many people in other countries who live under dictators. Those people don't have the power to vote and choose their leaders. They either can't vote at all, or their elections are sham elections that are just for show and don't matter (like russia, for example). This is thankfully not the way it is in America, but Trump tried to make it that way. Again, what he did is the same thing dictators do.

      Trump becoming president again would be like a bank robber being in charge of a bank. Voting for Biden is the way to stop this from happening. Voting for Biden doesn't mean you support everything he does. But it means you are trying to keep the bank robber from controlling the bank.

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    2. Norcal

      Biden is wrong within normal parameters. Trump is wrong outside normal parameters.

      They are not equally bad.

      Voting third party, or not casting a vote for President, increases the chance that Trump will win.

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