In an episode of her show on MSNBC which aired on March 4, 2025, Rachel Maddow attacked Trump for honoring a juvenile cancer survivor. The boy’s father spoke to the New York Post to express his disgust with her commentary. On social media, a clip of her show went viral and conservatives universally attacked Maddow for her heartless argument.
“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,” Maddow said. “This was in the midst of him praising DOGE. DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.
Theodis Daniel, the boy’s father, told the New York Post, “She needs to shut her mouth if she has nothing nice to say.” He added, “This lady didn’t even serve time in the military. I was on the USS Kitty Hawk. She does not need to put her bad energy on us.” He explained how, “We sat next to Mr. Elon [Musk], the first lady was in front of us and [FBI Director] Kash Patel was at my son’s right shoulder.” Theodis explained that, “The first lady was nice, sweet, down to earth. Mr. Elon shook hands with us.
“Rachel Maddow is an evil witch. She mocked DJ Daniel, the 13-year-old who has been fighting for his life, just because Trump made him an honorary USSS Agent. MSNBC needs to issue corrective action immediately!” the account that posted the clip to X said. Other users were quick to echo these sentiments and roundly condemned the MSNBC hosts’ actions.
“We are in a spiritual war between good and evil. Don’t lend energy to the evil, manifest the good. Like we saw last night with this young man and all the other [heroic] stories. That is how we change social consciousness. Give energy to the good,” one user replied. Another said, “In better days, when we had journalistic ethics and morality, she would have been fired live on air for those comments.”
“Rachel could not even set aside her hatred and irrational anger toward President Trump— for a little boy fighting cancer. In the media world of unimaginable lows, Rachel Maddow just struck a new level of despicable,” one woman said. No Rachel, not Trump You, are in need of some special prayers to repair your heart & find a little kindness. “I’m confident God gave you something you have lost. Look for it. God doesn’t make mistakes only people do,” a response read.
“Obviously she didn’t do any investigating or she would have learned that part of this young man’s therapy is becoming an honorary police officer and has over 990 badges. He was surprised with the Secret Service badge,” another commenter said to add context to the event. One reply humorously suggested that, “Perhaps Maddow should be made an “honorary guest of the Federal penal system” for all of the blatantly dishonest, anti-American rhetoric that she has spewed over the years.
