MSNBC's Rachel Maddow might have disappointed many of her viewers with her lackluster scoop on President Trump's 2005 tax return, but the promise of something juicy still brought The Rachel Maddow Show its biggest audience ever Tuesday evening. Maddow's program drew 4.13 million viewers, and it was the top cable program of the night and third program on all of TV at 9 p.m., behind only the season finale of NBC's This is Us and CBS' NCIS: New Orleans, TVNewser reports.
Before her show, Maddow promoted her scoop on Twitter, sparking widespread excitement, anticipation, and speculation about what would be revealed. Viewership spiked from 1.81 million people watching MSNBC at 8 p.m. to 4.13 million at 9 p.m., when Maddow came on.
President Trump blasted Maddow for revealing his 2005 tax return on TV. "You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago," the White House said in a statement.
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