Rachel Maddow Draws Record 4.5 Million Viewers for Lev Parnas Interview

Sit-down with Rudy Giuliani associate topped a March 2017 show when Maddow released a portion of Trump’s tax returns

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“The Rachel Maddow Show” scored 4.5 million viewers for her first part of her interview with Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas on Wednesday, a record for the MSNBC program.

It surpassed the 4.13 million who tuned in to a March 2017 broadcast, where Maddow revealed a small portion of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax return. “Maddow” also drew 844,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo, the audience preferred by news advertisers.

In the 9pm hour, “Maddow” ranked #1 across all of cable, topping #2 FOX News’ “Hannity” by over half a million total viewers (3.7M). “Maddow” more than tripled CNN in total viewers and topped CNN by more than 500,000 in A25-54.

Following “Maddow” at 9pm, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10pm and “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” at 11pm were both #1 in total viewers, more than doubling CNN’s total viewership for those hours.

Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani accused of being involved in the attempt to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate former vice president Joe Biden’s son in order to boost Donald Trump’s re-election efforts, told Rachel Maddow on Wednesday that Trump “knew exactly what was going on.”

Asked by the MSNBC host in a pre-taped interview what he wanted to correct on the record, Parnas said: “That the president didn’t know what was going on. President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all of my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani and the president.”

Parnas added that he wants to testify before the Senate for Trump’s impeachment hearing. The Articles of Impeachment were delivered to the Senate yesterday around the same time Parnas taped his interview with Maddow.

Part 2 of Maddow’s interview with Parnas is airing Thursday evening.

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