MSNBC’s post-Joy Reid era begins with hiring of Politico veteran Eugene Daniels

Eugene Daniels, a White House correspondent for Politico, is joining MSNBC full-time as a host.

The Comcast Corp.-owned news channel announced Monday that Daniels, 36, will join the morning edition of “The Weekend,” a three-hour program airing Saturdays and Sundays. He will be joined by Washington Post journalist Jonathan Capehart and another co-host to be named soon.

The current hosts of “The Weekend” — Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend — are moving to the 7 p.m. Eastern weekday time period vacated by Joy Reid. The new program will begin in late April.

Daniels also will be senior Washington correspondent for MSNBC, which is building its own news operation after being part of NBC News since its launch in 1996.

He is the first outside hire under MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler, who is leading the news network as it becomes part of a new company spun off from Comcast.

Daniels has been an MSNBC contributor since 2021, appearing regularly on “Morning Joe.” He will leave Politico to take on his new role.

Daniels joined Politico in 2018 and was co-author of its popular morning newsletter “Politico Playbook.” He currently serves as president of the White House Correspondents Assn., a post he was elected to last year.

A Texas native, Daniels is a graduate of Colorado State University, where he was a defensive end on the football team.

While Reid was considered the most left-leaning of MSNBC’s hosts, her departure does not portend a change in direction at the network, which has a tribal following among political progressives.

Capehart is joining “The Weekend” after having his own evening MSNBC program on Saturday and Sunday since 2020. His program will end, along with those hosted by Katie Phang and Ayman Mohyeldin, when the network’s new schedule takes effect.

Mohyeldin will be part of a new evening edition of “The Weekend.” Phang will remain with MSNBC as a legal analyst.