Who is Rachel Maddow? Meet the MSNBC host that broke the Trump tax story
RACHEL Maddow is revelling in the political spotlight after breaking the story on Donald Trump’s tax returns. But who is the host of the Rachel Maddow Show?
Stolen document reveals Trump paid MILLIONS in taxes
Last night she sparked a media frenzy by tweeting simply: "BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns."
But despite the hype around the exclusive reveal, documents seemed to reveal that President Donald Trump paid over $38 million dollars in tax 2005.
The White House branded the publication of the tax return as “illegal”, while television critic Willa Paskin called the scoop a "cynical, self-defeating spectacle”.
Rachel Maddow broke the story on Donald Trump's tax returns, but who exactly is she?
Ms Paskin wrote: "The longer Maddow went on, ever deeper into a conspiratorial thicket, the clearer it became that whatever tax returns Maddow had, they weren’t as juicy as the ones she was talking about."
The tax story on the Rachel Maddow Show provoked a furious reaction on Twitter with some users mocking the hype around the scoop.
The TV host began her career working on radio shows
Who is Rachel Maddow?
Rachel Maddow is a news presenter on MSNB where she is the host of the award-winning Rachel Maddow Show.
She earned doctorate in political science in Oxford University under the Rhoades scholarship, and a bachelor's degree in public policy at Stanford.
Her TV career actually began in radio in 1999 when she hosted a show on WRNX.The Rachel Maddow Show is on weekdays at 9pm ET on MSNBC.
BREAKING: Rachel Maddow releases #TrumpTaxReturns pic.twitter.com/mdmqN80DPt
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) March 15, 2017
She later moved on to work on a breakfast show for WRSI radio, before leaving to join Air America.
In 2005 she became a regular panelist on MSNBC’s political talk show Tucker before going on to become a political analyst.
Her work on Race to the White House helped her national prominence grow.
In August 2008 it was announced the Rachel Maddow show would fill the 9pm slot, replacing Verdict with Dan Abrams.
Thank you Rachel Maddow for proving to your #Trump hating followers how successful @realDonaldTrump is & that he paid $40mm in taxes! #Taxes
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 15, 2017
Her show on MSNBC doubled audience ratings within days of broadcast
Within days the brand new show managed to double the audience ratings, up from 800,000 to 1.7 million.
MSNBC president, Phil Griffin, at the time said it took three or two years for such an audience boost.
She was branded by Politico.co one of Top Ten Political Newcomers of 2008 while the Washington Post named her the Best Breakout Star of 2008.
Trump thanks to Rachel Maddow #TrumpTaxReturns #MSNBC #TrumpsTaxes @CNN @washingtonpost @business @CBSNews @NBCNews @nytimes @ABC @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/F0x9rJqNns
— nete bab (@ntebdwa) March 15, 2017
Rachel Maddow's MOCKS Trump's windmill phobia
Since its inception, the weekdays show follows news on political activism, American policy making, legislature that affects American life.
Maddow’s work has pulled in an Emmy Award, two Gracie Allen Awards, and a John Steinbeck Award amongst others.
In 2012 she became a number one bestselling author for ‘DRIFT: The Unmooring of American Military Power.’