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Video of Rachel Maddow tearing up over Elon Musk post is altered | Fact check

Andre Byik   Paste BN
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The claim: Video shows Rachel Maddow tearing up over Elon Musk post about buying MSNBC

A Nov. 24 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows MSNBC host Rachel Maddow appearing to choke up while discussing a lewd post shared by Elon Musk on X, formerly Twitter, about Musk contemplating buying the cable news network.

"Put up the graphic of this," Maddow says in the video, prompting Musk's post to appear on the screen. "I think I'm going to have to hand this off."

The chyron on the screen reads, "Breaking News: Elon Musk posts dangerous meme."

The Instagram post was liked more than 24,000 times in two days.

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Our rating: Altered

The video was deceptively edited to make it seem like Maddow broke down while covering a meme shared by Musk on Nov. 24. She didn't. The original video is from 2018 and clearly shows Maddow getting choked up while discussing a report about children being separated from their parents at the southern border.

Altered video misrepresents 2018 segment of Maddow's show

The video in the Instagram post shows a risque meme Musk shared on his X social media platform about being tempted to purchase MSNBC. The post came amid reports that Comcast plans to spin off some of its cable television networks, including MSNBC, into a new company. Comcast's announcement made no mention of MSNBC being up for sale on its own.

Musk posted on X about possibly purchasing the network and shared the meme featured in the Instagram post on Nov. 24.

But Maddow didn't break down on air while covering the meme. The video in the Instagram post comes from a 2018 segment of "The Rachel Maddow Show" and includes deceptive edits and fabricated graphics.

The original segment, which aired June 19, 2018, was shared by The Guardian on YouTube and in a post on what was then called Twitter. These videos make clear Maddow struggled to keep her composure while covering a report from The Associated Press about shelters for children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border during Trump's first presidential term.

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"Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children – to at least three – put up the graphic of this. Thank you. Do we have it? No," Maddow said during the segment, according to an MSNBC transcript. "Three tender-age shelters in south Texas. Lawyers and medical providers just – I think I'm going to hand this off – yes, sorry."

The chyron on the broadcast read, "Breaking News: AP: Youngest separated kids sent to Texas 'tender age' shelters."

There is no mention of Musk in the segment or on the graphics on the screen. Both the Instagram video and the original video show a graphic promoting a "live from the border" segment.

Maddow's emotional response was widely covered in the press at the time, including by the AP. Maddow also apologized for not being able to get through the segment.

Paste BN reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Reuters, Lead Stories and Snopes also debunked the claim.

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