MSNBC host Rachel Maddow got some more bad news this week after she criticized her network late last month following the firing of race-baiting host Joy Reid and the demotion of fill-in host Alex Wagner.
Her criticism comes on the heels of the network revealing earlier in the week that Reid’s and Wagner’s shows would be canceled as part of a broader effort to revamp its programming, with weekend shows hosted by Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, and Ayman Mohyeldin also being scrapped.
“She is leaving the network altogether and that is very, very, very hard to take. I am 51 years old,” Maddow said during a show segment in February. “I have been gainfully employed since I was 12 and I have had so many different kinds of jobs, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.
“But in all of the jobs I have had in all of the years I have been alive, there is no colleague for whom I have had more affection and more respect than Joy Reid,” Maddow said of her far-left friend.
“I love everything about her. I have learned so much from her. I have so much more to learn from her,” Maddow continued. “I do not want to lose her as a colleague here at MSNBC, and personally, I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door. It is not my call and I understand that. But that’s what I think.”
“I will tell you. It is also unnerving to see that on a network where we’ve got two — count them — two non-white hosts in primetime, both of our non-white hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend,” Maddow said. “And that feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible and I do not defend it.”
Wow. Rachel Maddow just did her MSNBC show and ripped MSNBC management for firing Joy Reid. She even implied that they were racist for firing multiple minority hosts.
If you were management, would you allow an employee to imply that you’re a racist? 🤔pic.twitter.com/nIYGS729kv
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 25, 2025
Following those remarks, Maddow was notified that she is losing some of her production staff to job cuts and reassignments.
“Maddow, the biggest star and highest-rated anchor at MSNBC, will get to keep her executive producer, Cory Gnazzo, and several other senior producers,” The Guardian reported, citing inside sources.
“But the rest of Maddow’s team – along with producers who worked on the other cancelled shows, hosted by Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, Ayman Mohyeldin and José Díaz-Balart – have been given the option to claim severance or reapply for new roles at the network, the people said,” the outlet added.
Maddow came under fire again this week over remarks she and MSNBC colleague Nicole Wallace made following President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday.
During his speech, Trump recognized DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor who he made an honorary U.S. Secret Service agent to thunderous applause from Republicans, as Democrats chose to remain seated and refused even to clap for the youngster.
After co-host Rachel Maddow claimed that Trump was politicizing the youngster’s recovery, Wallace made her remarks.
Maddow said, “For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that.”
“This was in the midst of him praising [the Department of Government Efficiency],” she added. “The DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.”
For the record, Trump never took credit for Daniels’ recovery. Rather, he simply recognized the teen’s horrendous survival journey and credited his enduring positivity and ambition to become a law enforcement officer when he becomes an adult.
Trump shared the story of Daniel and his father, who was in the crowd and even lifted him up at one point during the speech. He explained that the two have been on a “quest” to fulfill Daniel’s dream of becoming a police officer and noted that Daniel has already been made an honorary member of several local police departments.
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