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MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace, who stirred controversy with comments regarding the 13-year-old cancer survivor honored by President Donald Trump during his address to Congress, has seen a significant drop in her ratings since the 2024 presidential election.
Wallace, 53, who had previously worked as a communications official in President George W. Bush's administration, was previously averaging 1.6 million viewers for her Deadline: White House program from the beginning of 2024 to Election Day, but has seen a drop by 35% since November 5, according to Nielsen figures obtained by the New York Post. The show specifically saw a drop in the key advertising demographic of adults ages 25 to 54, decreasing from 144,000 viewers prior to the election to 93,000 after.
President Trump claimed that Wallace and fellow MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow "should be forced to resign" while addressing their comments about Devarjaye 'DJ' Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor he brought attention to during his address to Congress.
"I thought it was very embarrassing for the Democrats, what happened the other night. Even CNN 'Fake News' said that. They came out and said it. And worse than CNN is ‘MS-DNC,’ which is the worst, Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday (March 6), mocking MSNBC as being pro-Democrat, via FOX News. "And the good news is very few people watch them anymore. They've lost such credibility."
"Frankly, what Nicolle Wallace said - I've never been a fan of hers, and she's not very talented, but I will tell you what she said the other day about the young man is disgraceful. She should be forced to resign," Trump said.
"And Rachel Maddow should be forced to resign. Nobody watches her anyway. I don't know - it's not possible they pay her as much money as I hear. But certainly she's lost all credibility, both of them. But what they said the other day, they should be forced to resign about that young person, who is suffering greatly," he added.
Maddow called Trump spotlighting Daniel during his address to Congress 'disgusting" as she inferred that it was simply a political ploy, while Wallace gave a hypothetical scenario comparing the child to police officers and Trump supporters present at the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots.
“For the record – and this is disgusting – the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who’s thus far survived pediatric cancer – as if the president had something to do with that,” Maddow said, though later noting she felt "joy" over the boy's moment.
“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer, but I hope he never has to defend the United States capitol against Donald Trump’s supporters and if he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide,” Wallace added. “And I hope he isn’t one that has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then lived to see Donald Trump pardon those people.”
DJ was diagnosed with Stage 3 brain cancer at the age of 6 in September 2018, with a CAT scan revealing "a tumor the size of a lemon." The child was given five months to live and, despite still having terminal cancer, has outlived the expectancy by more than six years.