MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Savages Ronna McDaniel for Dropping ‘Romney’ from Name Because Trump Doesn’t Like Her Uncle: ‘How Did You Explain That to Your Kids?’

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell did whatever the opposite of rolling out the red carpet is for NBC News’ latest hire – former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.

The hiring has caused a firestorm at NBC News and MSNBC, with multiple hosts blasting the decision on air. Of all the in-house criticisms, however, O’Donnell’s may have cut the deepest.

Several MSNBC pundits have noted McDaniel’s role in promoting the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. Joe Scarborough played a montage of McDaniel’s election denialism. Chuck Todd noted that as RNC chair, McDaniel repeatedly tried to ruin NBC News’ credibility. Meanwhile, one MSNBC guest said the move is “pretty bad.”

On Monday’s installment of The Last Word, O’Donnell joined the pile-on. The host focused on the fact that McDaniel, who previously went by Ronna Romney McDaniel, dropped her uncle Mitt Romney’s last name because the senator has long clashed with Trump, who was president when she chaired the RNC.

O’Donnell said he would never interview McDaniel “as an expert on Republican campaigns,” but nonetheless extended an invitation to the show and gave her his questions in advance:

MSNBC will not use Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. But I do have a few questions for her whenever she might want to come on this program. And I’ll make it easy for her. I’ll tell her the questions ahead of time.

My first question would be, why did you change your name for Donald Trump? Before Trump ran for president, her name was Ronna Romney McDaniel. How does that feel, to change her name to curry favor with the madman because he doesn’t like your uncle? How did you explain that to your kids? What lesson did your kids learn from that?

And I mention her kids because she always mentions her kids and that she is a mother whenever she’s speaking publicly. And then I would ask her about everything she did to try to help Donald Trump overthrow the election that she, yesterday decided to say for the very first time four years late, that Joe Biden won fair and square.

McDaniel stepped down as RNC chair this month after Trump reportedly helped push her out. She has since been replaced by former North Carolina Republican Committee Chair Michael Whatley and the former president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.

Watch above via MSNBC

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