MSNBC host Rachel Maddow criticized her own network over its decision to cut fellow primetime anchor Joy Reid as part of a larger restructuring across the network this week.
Saying it was “hard to take” the news that Reid would be leaving the outlet, Maddow said on her show Monday night, “I love everything about her. I have learned so much from her. I have so much more to learn from her.”
“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,” Maddow said. “It is not my call and I understand that. But that’s what I think.”
Maddow went a step further and called it “unnerving” to “see that on a network where we’ve got two, count them, two nonwhite hosts in primetime, both of our nonwhite hosts in primetime are losing their shows,” a reference to her colleague Alex Wagner, who will no longer host a 9 p.m. show as part of the changes but will remain with the network as a correspondent.
“And that feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible. And I do not defend it,” Maddow said. “But there’s just one other piece of it that you should know.”
The host’s comments were first highlighted by Mediate.
Maddow has not shied away from criticizing her network in the past.
She voiced displeasure with the network’s carrying of President Trump’s remarks in full along the campaign trail, arguing fact-checking him afterwards was insufficient.
One of the most recognizable hosts on cable news, Maddow recently began hosting five nights a week again for MSNBC during Trump’s first 100 days.
