Ms. Maddow devoted the top of her MSNBC show to outlining the reasons for her objections to NBC News’ hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel. In the backlash over the hiring, the network has said that it would be up to individual shows to decide whether to book McDiel on their programs, rather than there being a blanket ban. The network also said that the network’s response so far has been defensive.