MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Cuts Hiatus Short To Cover Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

Rachel Maddow returned to MSNBC Thursday night, cutting short a planned hiatus from The Rachel Maddow Show that was expected to keep her off the air until April. Maddow told viewers back in January that she would “take a little bit of time off from this show,” which left the network without its highest-rated prime time host.

While MSNBC had planned for Maddow’s absence, the situation clearly shifted as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, and neither of MSNBC’s top political and breaking news hosts—Maddow and Brian Williams—were available, with Maddow on leave and Williams having left NBC at the end of 2021.

Late Thursday afternoon, Maddow announced via Twitter that she would be bank, anchoring two hours of coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET:

“And so, Russia has started another war,” Maddow told viewers with the colors of Ukraine’s flag behind her. “We have a large, conventional land war this time. The first one in Europe since World War II.”

Welcoming NBC’s Richard Engel, who has been reporting for NBC News from Mariupol, Ukraine, Maddow captured the mood of the night this way: “It’s always terrible news when I see you anywhere other than a bar.” Engel replied, “we have to stop meeting like this.”

In keeping with her show’s unique format, Maddow opened her coverage of Ukraine with an extended segment breaking down Russia’s economy, which she described as being “a teeny, tiny little sclerotic backwards economy. They’re the biggest country on Earth, and they’ve got an economy considerably smaller than Italy’s.”

Maddow’s return—even for a night—will be welcome news for MSNBC, which has seen ratings in the key 9 p.m. ET hour plunge by 26 percent since Maddow stepped away from her show.

It’s unclear if Maddow will continue to anchor MSNBC’s continuing coverage of the war in Europe this week, but a source familiar with the network’s planning says Maddow will be hosting The Rachel Maddow Show Monday ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, and will lead the network’s coverage of the address Tuesday, with Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace.