''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is an American weeknight news and political commentary program on

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. The program airs live at 10:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

Mondays through Fridays, and is hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell from Mondays to Thursdays, with rotating guest hosts (sitting for O'Donnell) on Fridays. O'Donnell is described by MSNBC as "providing the last word on the biggest issues and most compelling stories of the day." As of May 2025, ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is the second-most watched cable news program by total day and key 24-54 demo viewers in its 10 p.m. ET time slot, behind rival ''

Gutfeld! ''Gutfeld!'', known as ''The Greg Gutfeld Show'' from 2015 to 2021, is an American conservative news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, prin ...

'' and ahead of '' CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip''.

History

The show originally premiered in the 10:00 pm slot Monday-Thursday on September 27, 2010, with the first episode featuring Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and '' Countdown'' host

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...

. The show was moved to the 8 pm slot in January 2011 when Olbermann's show was canceled. ''Last Word'' returned to its original 10:00 p.m. slot in October 2011. Between March and April 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, MSNBC temporaily replaced the Tuesday evening broadcasts with ''NBC News Special Report'' hours either hosted by ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'' anchor Lester Holt or ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She was the main co-anchor of the NBC News breakfast television, morning show ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 2018 to 2025, ...

. During the

2022 United States elections Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the term of president Joe Biden, all 435 seats in ...

, ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' was temporarily replaced on Fridays with ''The Kornacki Countdown'' hosted by Steve Kornacki during the 2022 midterm elections from October 14 to Election Day November 8. Since 2024, the program also airs a recap on Sunday as part of ''Prime Weekend'', which also recaps from '' The Rachel Maddow Show, Deadline: White House, The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, The Briefing with Jen Psaki, All In with Chris Hayes and The Weeknight''.

Format

''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' typically features a lengthy monologue in the "A-Block," followed by interviews and discussions with guests throughout the remainder of the show. Replays of the show are available on MSNBC's app (accessible from the US only). The show is also available as an audio podcast. Guest hosts (every Friday night sitting in for O'Donnell) in the series include Ali Velshi, Ayman Mohyeldin, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, and Alicia Menendez.

Reception

YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...

, a British international Internet-based

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

and

data analytics Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data, which also falls under and directly relates to the umbrella term, data sci ...

firm, collected 1550 interviews' worth of data between July 2020 and October 2020, and concluded: "''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is the 384th most popular contemporary TV show and the 407th most famous. ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is described by fans as: Smart, Helpful, Never miss it, Intelligent and Fair." It collated the ratings of American views: * 21% POSITIVE opinion * 12% NEGATIVE opinion * 14% NEUTRAL opinion * 47% HAVE HEARD OF YouGov's other findings: * "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" is more popular among

Baby Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

than among other age groups. * "With 23% positive opinion, ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is more popular among Men than among Women." In April 2025, ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' and ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' were the only non-MSNBC shows to appear in the month's top 15 cable news by total viewers, with ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' averaging 1.442 million total viewers.

Notable guests

, Vice President and later President of the United States, appeared on September 27, 2010 *

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

, Vice President of the United States, appeared on December 19, 2023. Previously appeared as district attorney the night before her election as California Attorney General, November 2010 *

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

, Former member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from Florida's 13th congressional district

Florida governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Gu ...

, Independent

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from Florida in 2010, appeared on September 28, 2010 * Levi Johnston, Candidate for mayor of

Wasilla, Alaska Wasilla (Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States, and the List of cities in Alaska, fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanus ...

, in 2011, appeared on September 28, 2010 *

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator who served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 and as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) f ...

, Chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

, appeared on October 5, 2010. *

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

, former chairman of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

and former

governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of the U.S. state of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold guberna ...

, appeared October 5, 2010. *

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

, former Republican Congressman of

Texas's 14th congressional district Texas's 14th congressional district for the United States House of Representatives stretches from Freeport to Orange, Texas. It formerly covered the area south and southwest of the Greater Houston region, including Galveston, in the state of ...

, appeared October 11, 2010. *

Valerie Plame Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy, novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA offic ...

, former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operative, and husband Joe Wilson appeared on October 19, 2010. *

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives * Mary L. Trump, psychologist, author, and niece of Donald Trump, appeared September 17, 2020. *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, retired astronaut, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he ha ...

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and husband of former Democratic Congresswoman

Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun violence prevention advocate. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when ...

, appeared October 5, 2022. *

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

, Former

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

, appeared in 2011.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, The MSNBC original programming 2010 American television series debuts 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows American English-language television shows