Rachel Maddow begs viewers to be safe in powerful speech about her wife's COVID-19 ordeal
Popular MSNBC host Rachel Maddow went into quarantine on Nov. 7, saying only that "a close contact" of hers had contracted COVID-19. Returning to the air on Thursday evening via a slightly unreliable home rig, she revealed that the contact was her wife Susan Mikula, and that her illness had been severe — and terrifying.
"If you know anything about me off of TV, if you know me personally, then you know the foremost thing about me is that I am in love," she began. "Susan and I have been together for over 21 years. It was love at first sight. That has never waned. She is the centre of my universe."
After a technical issue that took a couple of minutes to resolve (live TV, folks!), Maddow continued, recalling that "at one point, we really thought there was a possibility that [the illness] might kill her, and that's why I've been away."
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"And the bottom line is she's gonna be fine. She's recovering — she's still sick, but she's gonna be OK, and we're not scared any more like we were. But it really didn't feel like it was gonna be OK at the outset."
Maddow addressed a special plea to viewers who, after months of isolation and precautions, might be feeling more blasé about the virus than they were in, say, April.
"Believe me: whatever you have calculated into your life as acceptable risk, as, y'know, inevitable risk, something that you're willing to go through in terms of this virus, because statistically, it'll probably be fine for you and your loved ones... I'm just here to tell you to recalibrate that," she said. "Frankly, the country needs to recalibrate that, because broadly speaking, there's no room for you in the hospital any more."
While she didn't say whether Mikula had gone to hospital or not, Maddow painted a brutal picture of the sleepless nights she spent trying to care for her wife while also trying to avoid contracting the virus herself. (She says she repeatedly tested negative throughout that period).
"What you need to know is that whoever is the most important person in your life, whoever you most love and most care for and most cherish in the world, that's the person who you may lose," Maddow said bluntly. "Or who you may spend weeks, up all night, freaking out, calling doctors all night long, just trying to figure out how to keep that person breathing and out of the hospital."
She then addressed the viewers who are considering travelling or hosting guests for the year's biggest family holiday next Thursday. (A recent poll suggested nearly 40 percent of Americans fall into this category, and that many of these won't even ask guests to wear masks.)
"However you've calibrated risk in your life... don't get this thing," she said. "Do whatever you can to keep from getting it. Thanksgiving next week? You are just going to have to have it at home, without having people over. And yes it's going to suck, but it's going to suck so much less than you or somebody in your family getting this and getting sick. Trust me."
"You might be willing to risk yourself. Especially after all these months and all this time, it's so frustrating," she acknowledged.
"I would have done anything, I would have moved mountains, for it to have been me who was sick these past couple weeks instead of Susan," she said, at one point appearing to swallow as though she was getting choked up. "I still would give anything for that. But [the virus] does not give you that choice... It won't necessarily be you. It will be the person you most care about in the world. And how can you bear that?"
"Susan" began trending on Twitter after the segment aired, with Maddow's colleagues and media peers thanking her for the powerful, personal plea, and wishing Mikula a full recovery.
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The monologue is worth watching in its entirety. And if you have friends or family who are insisting that it's important to just "live your life" and gather together for a meal next week, maybe it's worth sending to them too.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 250,000 Americans as of this week, with thousands more to come — especially if people continue to take unnecessary risks.
Caitlin is Mashable's Australian Editor. She has written for The Guardian, Junkee, and any number of plucky little music and culture publications that were run on the smell of an oily rag and have since been flushed off the Internet like a dead goldfish by their new owners. She also worked at Choice, Australia's consumer advocacy non-profit and magazine, and as such has surprisingly strong opinions about whitegoods. She enjoys big dumb action movies, big clever action movies, cult Canadian comedies set in small towns, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Replacements, smoky mezcal, revenge bedtime procrastination, and being left the hell alone when she's reading.
