MSNBC scolded Brian Williams for “patronizing” host Rachel Maddow after he thanked her for “visiting” his newscast.
Williams hijacked Maddow’s show to break the news of the U.S. missile strike on Syria earlier this month when he told her at the end of the broadcast while on air, “Thanks for visiting tonight. Glad you were a part of our coverage.”
MSNBC president Phil Griffin was reportedly furious at Williams for how he treated Maddow, the New York Post’s “Page Six” reported.
“Phil gave Brian a very stern rebuke, telling him, ‘Don’t you ever do that again.’ But Rachel didn’t seem bothered by it and just laughed it off,” a source told “Page Six.”
The former NBC Nightly News anchor was in charge of MSNBC’s coverage of the U.S. Navy’s Tomahawk missile strike on Syria, which cut into Maddow’s nightly program “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Viewers objected to Williams’ perceived intrusion into Maddow’s turf and his observation that the video footage of the missiles being launched was “beautiful” on the April 6 broadcast.
“Not only did Brian go way over the top with his coverage of the missile strike, he then totally patronized Rachel by thanking her for ‘visiting’ her own show and being ‘a part’ of his ‘beautiful’ coverage! Has he not learned anything from ‘Misremember-gate’?” a source from MSNBC said.
Williams was suspended from NBC Nightly News and later fired in 2015 after he “misremembered” details of his experiences covering the Iraq War in 2003, the Daily Mail reported.
He returned to the air as a breaking news anchor in September 2015 and host of an 11 p.m. wrap-up hour.