Father of Cancer Survivor Teen Honored by Trump Slams Rachel Maddow

The father of Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, the 13-year-old cancer survivor who Donald Trump and Secret Service Director Sean Curran made an honorary agent Tuesday during the president’s joint address to Congress, slammed MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for comments she made on the moment, which she deemed a “spectacle.” “She needs to shut her mouth if she has nothing nice to say,” Theodis Daniel told the New York Post Wednesday. “This lady didn’t even serve time in the military,” he continued. “I was on the USS Kitty Hawk. She does not need to put her bad energy on us.” Following Trump’s congressional address Tuesday, Maddow reflected on the moment DJ was made an honorary agent and said: “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.” She continued, “This was in the midst of him praising DOGE. DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.”