MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace avoided acknowledging the growing backlash she is facing for comments she made about the 13-year-old cancer survivor who was featured in President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress.
Wallace was slammed for remarks in MSNBC’s coverage of Trump’s address inexplicably linking the young boy to Jan. 6 and the suicide of Capitol Police officers.
On Wednesday’s installment of “Deadline: White House,” Wallace refrained from addressing the uproar. In fact, there was minimal coverage of Trump’s address during her two-hour program.
One of the most memorable moments from Trump’s address was when he put a spotlight on teenager, DJ Daniel — an aspiring police officer who was told by doctors six years ago he had five months to live when he was first diagnosed with brain cancer.
“Tonight, DJ, we’re going to do you the biggest honor of them all,” Trump said. “I am asking our new Secret Service Director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States.”
The moment sparked a standing ovation from Republicans in the room while Democratic lawmakers remained seated.
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Wallace shared a grim response to her MSNBC colleagues.
“But I think this was a lesson in finding one thing that you let yourself feel,” Wallace said. “And I let myself feel joy about DJ, and I hope he’s alive for another, you know, 95 years, and I hope he lives the life he wants to live. He wants to be a cop. He knows what he wants to do, and maybe when you have childhood cancer, that crystallizes for you.”
“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer,” she continued. “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, and I hope he isn’t one who has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then lived to see Donald Trump pardon those people.”
The comments ignited sharp condemnation across social media, even making their way to the White House.
“Last night, MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace disgustingly looped in a 13-year-old boy with brain cancer into an attack on the president over January 6,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
“It’s sad and frankly pathetic that Democrats and liberals in the legacy media continue to allow their hatred for the president to override their love for our country,” Leavitt later added.
Wallace was not the only network figure to chastise Trump for inviting Daniel to the chamber.
“For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that,” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said Tuesday night.
“This was in the midst of him praising [the Department of Government Efficiency],” Maddow continued. “The DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.”
MSNBC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
