The father of DJ Daniel, the child who survived a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, fired back at MSNBC host Rachel Maddow after her unhinged comments attacking President Donald Trump for honoring his son, who has always dreamed of becoming a police officer.
Soon after Trump’s joint address to Congress on March 4 — where he praised Daniel and honored the 13-year-old boy by making him an honorary member of the Secret Service — Maddow took to her failing MSNBC show to attack the heartfelt moment.
I had the pleasure of showing DJ Daniel around the United States Capitol in December 2022.
Tonight, President Trump made him an honorary member of the Secret Service.
Congratulations, DJ! You make Texas proud.
pic.twitter.com/sbYSp4JHM1— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) March 5, 2025
Responding to the widely-praised moment, Maddow claimed it was “disgusting.”
“For the record — and this is disgusting — the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who’s thus far survived pediatric cancer — as if the president had something to do with that,” the MSNBC host whined.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is bitter over the fact that President Trump put the spotlight on a pediatric cancer patient and fulfilled his wish. pic.twitter.com/waFzuKjRNp
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 5, 2025
Now, the boy’s father Theodis Daniel is firing back — calling Maddow out during an interview with the New York Post.
“She needs to shut her mouth if she has nothing nice to say,” the father said, according to the outlet.
“This lady didn’t even serve time in the military. I was on the USS Kitty Hawk. She does not need to put her bad energy on us,” he added.
Theodis Daniel, a 47-year-old former machinist’s mate and fireman with the U.S. Navy, also spoke to the outlet about attending Trump’s speech and being contacted by the White House.
“The White House reached out to us and said that President Trump wants to meet Devarjaye,” he told the New York Post. “They flew us out and FBI agents picked us up at the airport.”
“We sat next to Mr. Elon [Musk], the first lady was in front of us and [FBI Director] Kash Patel was at my son’s right shoulder,” Theodis added. “The first lady was nice, sweet, down to earth. Mr. Elon shook hands with us.”
Maddow’s comments were not the only disgraceful conduct from the Democrats about the child cancer survivor, as the lawmakers refused to stand during Trump’s speech while he was honoring DJ:
Democrats REFUSED to stand for:
➡️ Laken Riley’s family
➡️ Jocelyn Nungaray’s family
➡️ Corey Comoaratore’s family
➡️ DJ Daniel, a 13 year old with cancerAbsolutely heartless, EVIL people. pic.twitter.com/g3gREYSxQM
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 5, 2025
