MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's ratings have plummeted since her special episode Tuesday night when she said she was going to release President Donald Trump's tax returns.
Maddow tweeted on Tuesday before her show that she had Trump's tax returns, hyping the report for her audience. Less than an hour, she clarified in another message that she only had part of the president's returns from 2005.
BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC.
(Seriously).
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 14, 2017
What we've got is from 2005... the President's 1040 form... details to come tonight 9PM ET, MSNBC.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 15, 2017
The 1040 form was two pages long and summarized Trump's taxes from 2005, revealing that the president earned $153 million and paid $36.5 million in income taxes that year.
Journalists and critics of Trump were unhappy with Maddow for promoting the story in the manner she did, which many felt was a letdown because it did not show any damaging information about the president.
It appears those feelings translated into depressed viewership numbers.
The following night, Wednesday, Maddow's ratings were down 36 percent overall from Tuesday, and in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic, her ratings were down 54 percent, Fox News reports.
Maddow spent most of her show Tuesday discussing the two-page document on Trump's taxes.
"The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon told Maddow on Wednesday that her tax scoop was a letdown, and the MSNBC host appeared to agree with the late-night comic.