Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell delivered a powerful night of television that ignited a firestorm of reactions from both the public and the media.

While Maddow expressed deep empathy with the thousands protesting against the Trump administration, O’Donnell dove into the devastating economic consequences of Trump’s tariff policies — a trade war spiraling the U.S. economy into chaos.

Maddow opened with a striking montage of protest signs from across all 50 states, blending biting wit and raw emotion: “Hands off my Social Security,” “Let them eat Teslas,” and “Super callous fragile racist narcissistic POTUS.”

She pointed out that the sheer variety of messages reflected a movement that was far from isolated — it was a nationwide wave of outrage, united not by ideology, but by collective resistance.

Maddow emphasized that this diversity made the movement stronger and more enduring, as each person protesting had their own valid reason for standing up.

Trump’s reportedly furious reaction after the broadcast was not just understandable — it was telling.

Maddow didn’t just report the protests — she framed them as a strategic threat.

A movement with millions of reasons to resist is harder to crush than any single ideological opponent.

And perhaps what rattled Trump the most was exactly that: not a politician or rival, but the massive, unpredictable wave of democratic dissent rising against him.

Meanwhile, on *The Last Word*, Lawrence O’Donnell launched a direct assault on Trump’s economic agenda, describing the tariffs as “a permanent structural tax on American consumers.”

He detailed how the policy, intended to punish foreign adversaries, was instead harming U.S. families and industries, triggering price hikes, market instability, and the looming threat of recession.

O’Donnell spotlighted the public rift between Trump and Elon Musk as a symbol of Trump’s collapsing economic credibility.

While Trump has famously turned on almost everyone around him, he had long avoided clashing with Musk — the richest man in the world, and a powerful potential donor.

But that alliance fractured as Musk publicly called Trump’s tariffs “stupid,” and allowed his brother, Kimbal Musk, to echo the criticism in a damning public statement.

The Musk brothers framed Trump’s tariffs as a hidden tax on Americans, crushing jobs, stifling consumption, and leading directly toward a recession.

O’Donnell argued this wasn’t just a feud between egos — it was proof of how deeply damaging Trump’s policies had become, even to his ultra-wealthy allies.

He explained how Tesla’s stock, along with the entire auto sector, was tanking under rising costs.

Wall Street, once a symbol of Republican economic strength, now reeled from the erratic unpredictability of Trump’s trade agenda.

Even CNBC, typically measured, fell into chaos as a false rumor about a temporary tariff pause sent markets soaring — only to crash minutes later when reporters confirmed it wasn’t true.

O’Donnell seized on this as a perfect example of governance by chaos, of policy dictated by volatility and ego rather than reason.

He went further, suggesting that insider trading might be at play, as Trump officials may have had foreknowledge of the market implications of these tariffs.

Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla advocate, declared the combination of Trump’s tariffs and Musk’s unpredictable moves a form of “brand destruction” — likening the economic strategy to playing baseball with no catcher, shortstop, or left fielder.

Prices for U.S. cars, iPhones, and tech products were set to skyrocket, with sticker price hikes being masked by increases in auto loan interest rates.

O’Donnell exposed this as a quiet theft from American consumers — a financial shell game with massive real-world impact.

In a chilling close, he pointed to Trump’s reliance on Peter Navarro, the architect of the tariff policy and the only White House economic advisor to serve federal prison time.

Despite mounting evidence of damage, Navarro’s ideology continues to shape Trump’s economic warpath.

And the final question O’Donnell posed was clear and urgent:

How much longer will Elon Musk tolerate these self-inflicted wounds before he fully breaks with Trump?

Because when even the richest man in the world is bleeding money — and still won’t be heard — it becomes clear just how destructive and politically unsustainable Trump’s economic vision truly is.