MSNBC announced on Wednesday that its liberal opinion star Rachel Maddow will return as a moderator at the Democrats' next presidential debate.
The event, to be co-hosted by The Washington Post on November 20, marks MSNBC's second debate gig this election cycle.
Maddow will be joined by MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell, NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker and Washington Post White House reporter Ashley Parker, an all-woman panel of moderators, the network said.
NBC raised eyebrows for including Maddow, who drew ratings for its cable network for pushing what critics have described as "conspiracy theories" during the two-year Russia investigation, as a debate moderator earlier this year as such a position is usually assigned to serious, unbiased journalists.
Maddow's debate performance was widely criticized for keeping much of her focus on the findings of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.
MSNBC OPINION HOST RACHEL MADDOW'S DEBATE PRESENCE WAS 'A LOSS FOR JOURNALISM,' CRITICS SAY
"One would think that NBC News, which purports to be a news organization, would go above and beyond to make sure its hosts’ line of questioning was fair and honest, especially given the backlash the network received for its decision to have a far-left pundit moderate a presidential debate," BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller told Fox News.
Others slammed the "conspiracy theorist" on social media, saying her presence at a presidential debate was a "disgrace."
NBC has been under fire in recent weeks in the wake of the reporting from "Catch and Kill" author Ronan Farrow, who detailed the network's efforts to kill his Harvey Weinstein story and the alleged yearslong misconduct from its former star anchor Matt Lauer.
NBC NEWS REPORTEDLY RENEWS NOAH OPPENHEIM'S CONTRACT, DRAWING OUTRAGE: 'STATUS QUO HAS BEEN BLESSED'
Last week, a prominent women’s group called on the Democratic National Committee to pull its upcoming debate from MSNBC unless NBC News "cleans house" and launches an independent investigation into "allegations of a culture of sexual abuse" at the network.
UltraViolet Action, a leading national women’s organization, claimed the Democrats' fifth presidential debate shouldn’t happen if NBC didn't ditch its beleaguered leadership.
"The DNC needs to make it clear that they support survivors of sexual abuse and cancel the upcoming 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate on MSNBC until Comcast and NBC News take clear steps to clean up the toxic culture that exists across their networks," UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas said in a statement.
On Wednesday, a group of activists and sexual assault survivors from the organization held a protest outside NBC News' New York City headquarters.
The group called for NBCUniversal to fire NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, MSNBC president Phil Griffin and "every other person in leadership that enabled abusers and silenced survivors" at the Peacock Network.
"It's not just a Matt Lauer problem. It's a company-wide problem, and it's one that Comcast NBC needs to take seriously and demonstrate that they're taking seriously," Thomas said outside NBC’s famed 30 Rock.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Eight Democrats have qualified for the November debate so far: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and billionaire donor Tom Steyer.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.