WATCH: Ronna McDaniel Insists ‘There Were Problems’ With the 2020 Election in Trainwreck Soft-Launch of Her NBC News Gig

Newly-hired NBC News contributor Ronna McDaniel — the former head of the Republican National Committee — appeared on Meet the Press Sunday in what was supposed to be a soft-launch, of sorts, for her new gig. But there was absolutely nothing soft about the interview, which was contentious from the jump — as McDaniel mostly toed the Republican party line and clung to the idea that “there were problems” with the 2020 election.

Halfway through what was already a heated 20-minute sitdown, NBC’s Kristen Welker pressed McDaniel about a 2020 phone call she was on with former President Donald Trump in which both she and the former president seemed to pressure two election officials in Wayne County, MI not to certify the 2020 vote. In the phone call — a recording of which was reviewed by the Detroit News in late 2023 — McDaniel promised to secure legal representation the two election officials if they declined to certify the vote.

“If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys,” McDaniel said on the call.

“Do you have regrets about that phone call?” Welker asked Sunday.

McDaniel stood by her actions on the call:

“These two individuals went into a hearing. They voted no. They didn’t vote not to certify. They said, ‘we want an audit.’ There were some problems in Wayne County. They’ve been consistent. They’ve been well documented over subsequent elections. And they said as canvassers, ‘we think we should have an audit before we certify.’ That’s all they asked for.

“Once the public hearing opened, they were called. Such vicious names, such vile names, Family members are being threatened, that they changed their vote and they left shaken. And I did call them and say — And I think we should agree … Republicans and Democrats — nobody should be threatened or bullied or pushed to change a vote. And that’s what happened to them. And I want to finish by saying our call that night was to say, ‘Are you okay?’ That’s my recollection. It was three and a half years ago. These are people I knew. I live in Wayne County. Are you okay? Are you all right? Vote your conscience. Not pushing them to do anything.”Joe Biden won,” McDaniel said. “He’s the president. He’s the legitimate president. I have always said, and I continue to say, there were issues in 2020. I believe that both can be true.”

Welker played a clip of McDaniel telling CNN’s Chris Wallace, in July 2023, that she doesn’t believe Biden won “fair” in 2023.

“Can you say as you sit here today, did Joe Biden win the election fair and square?” Welker asked.

“He won, he’s the legitimate president,” McDaniel countered.

“Did he win fair and square?” Welker asked.

Finally, McDaniel conceded that Biden won “fair and square.” But, she added, “I do think it’s fair to say there were problems in 2020.”

Watch above, via NBC.