MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has been off the air for a couple months now after a car accident in April. O’Donnell was injured outside of the country when a taxi he was in with his brother crashed. On Thursday, he dropped by “The Rachel Maddow” show to reveal that he was ready to come back and would resume hosting duties on “The Last Word” starting Monday.
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He had a starkly different look when he popped up, sporting a full beard. As O’Donnell explained, the manly facial hair was the result of strict doctor’s orders. Due to bleeding concerns he was advised not to shave during his recovery period. Maddow called it a “medically induced” beard.
She had a little bit of fun with it, introducing O’Donnel by first showing a montage of other public figures who’d abruptly grown full beards after major events in their lives. She even titled her interview segment with him: “Now with 100% more whiskers!”
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O’Donnell admitted that he’s been disconnected from the news cycle during his convalescence and isn’t yet up to date. He’s got about three-and-a-half days to get caught up and find out if the Iraq war is indeed over, as he joked it was. Maddow refused to give him any spoilers.