Rachel Maddow marked the end of her 100-day run on MSNBC by laughing at President Donald Trump and his recent statements about how parents should limit their children to “three dolls” and “five pencils.”
The popular news anchor previously announced she would return to hosting The Rachel Maddow Show for five nights a week for Trump’s first 100 days back in office. As of Monday night (May 5), she is back to hosting Mondays only, as former Joe Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki takes over the 9 pm ET slot starting tonight (May 6).
As Maddow handed off her show to Lawrence O’Donnell, the pair couldn’t help but crack up over Trump’s recent comments about his tariffs on China and how it might mean parents have to cut back on spending this coming Christmas.
“I’m just saying [children] don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five,” the President said during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that aired on Sunday (May 4).
“The idea that he thinks that, if you’re raising a kid right now in 2025 in the United States of America, the thing you’re most thinking about is pencils and dolls,” she said while laughing. “That those are your real expenses you’re worried about.. that might be affected by what he’s doing. That’s what he thinks the family budget is based around. It’s just a remarkable window into his mind.”
O’Donnell replied, “The most charitable thing that can be said about that is that he’s a 20th century guy. That’s the most you can say.”
“It’s like he’s operating characters in The Sims,” Maddow quipped, referencing the life simulation video games. “Nobody needs to like eat or get healthcare. But what we have to worry about is our numbers of pencils and dolls… I dunno.”
The Last Word host laughed, adding, “You don’t have to know, Rachel. We’re just taking this one day at a time trying to figure this out.”
You can watch the segment in the opening of the video above.
The Rachel Maddow Show, Mondays, 9/8c, MSNBC
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Weeknights, 10/9c, MSNBC
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