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Report: MSNBC Angry With Brian Williams for Patronizing Rachel Maddow During Syria Coverage

MSNBC rebuked Brian Williams for a condescending remark to Rachel Maddow during the network's coverage of the U.S. missile strike on Syria, the New York Post reports.

Maddow, longtime host of MSNBC's popular "The Rachel Maddow Show," gave way to Williams at 9:12 p.m. ET on April 6 when news broke of President Trump's decision to attack a Syria airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles. It was retaliation for the Assad regime's chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 of its own civilians.

Shortly before 11 p.m., Maddow gave her final thoughts on the evening's events before signing off. Williams then said, "Thanks for everything tonight. Glad you were a part of our coverage."

One network source quoted in the Post expressed anger that Williams "patronized" Maddow by thanking her for "visiting" her own program. However, Williams said "everything," not "visiting."

According to the Post, MSNBC president Phil Griffin ripped Williams for his behavior.

"Phil gave Brian a very stern rebuke, telling him, 'Don't you ever do that again.' But Rachel didn't seem bothered by it and just laughed it off," a source said.

The Post reports:

Fans of Maddow–who has been enjoying a massive ratings surge recently–erupted on ­social media, also accusing MSNBC of being sexist by bringing in a male anchor to break the big news on Maddow's 9 p.m. show when she could have handled it better herself.

To make matters worse, wily Williams also made a moron of himself by repeatedly referring to the bombs as "beautiful" on the April 6 broadcast.

A source at the network said, "Not only did Brian go way over the top with his coverage of the missile strike, he then totally patronized Rachel by thanking her for 'visiting' her own show and being 'a part' of his 'beautiful' coverage! Has he not learned anything from 'Misremember-gate?'"

Williams is the former anchor of NBC Nightly News who lost his job in 2015 after reports emerged that he had fabricated, or "misremembered," a story that a helicopter he was in during the Iraq War was struck by enemy fire. Other past stories he has told came under scrutiny as well in an embarrassing investigation for NBC.

After being suspended for six months, he reemerged as a breaking news anchor on MSNBC, and he now hosts "The 11th Hour" on weeknights.