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Rachel Maddow Breaks Down in Tears on Live TV While Describing ‘Tender Age’ Shelters

Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow became emotional on air while describing how President Donald Trump’s administration is operating shelters for babies and toddlers who are separated from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border.

Related: Donald Trump’s Most Offensive and Outrageous Quotes

“Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border to at least three ‘tender age’ shelters in South Texas,” the MSNBC host, 45, said toward the end of The Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday, June 19, while reading a breaking news report published by the Associated Press just minutes earlier.

Maddow immediately choked up and abruptly ended the segment. “I think I’m going to have to hand this off. Sorry,” she said before turning her body away from the camera and waving goodbye. The show then cut to the next program, Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell.

Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow

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Just 16 minutes later, the political commentator took to Twitter to apologize for breaking down in tears during a live broadcast. “Ugh, I’m sorry,” she wrote in a series of tweets. “If nothing else, it is my job to actually be able to speak while I’m on TV. … I suddenly couldn’t say/do anything. … Again, I apologize for losing it there for a moment. Not the way I intended to go, not by a mile.”

Many of Maddow’s viewers came to her defense and told her that she didn’t need to apologize. Chrissy Teigen tweeted that she and her husband, John Legend, “have watched this show for a long, long time now” and even record it every night on their DVR. She added, “I’ve never ever seen [Maddow] cry.”

Related: Biggest Mistakes on Live TV

The emotional moment on Maddow’s show was a sharp contrast to a Fox News segment that aired earlier in the night. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said “womp womp” on The Story With Martha MacCallum when fellow guest Zac Petkanas spoke about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother. The Democratic strategist angrily replied, “How absolutely dare you.”

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