On Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word on Tuesday night after King Charles’s address to Congress, the MS NOW host ended his monologue with a comparison of the current Trump presidency to the American Revolution from the English and the “insane” King George III. O’Donnell also took the moment to praise the current king for his “humiliation” of Trump and made him feel “akin to gratitude to a British monarch.”
The MS NOW host’s monologue was mostly a repetition of points heard on cable and broadcast news after the King’s eloquent speech, which many media hosts framed as full of veiled attacks against Trump, which they, of course, enjoyed.
O’Donnell’s continuation of those points was on display as he said the King “played an unprecedented part in another desperately humiliating day for Donald Trump's Washington.”
In response to King Charles's address on Tuesday, MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell took the moment to compare Trump to "insane" King George III, as he seemingly compared this moment in the Trump presidency to the American Revolution from the mad King George. pic.twitter.com/NGTWNgu0PQ
— Nick (@nspin310) April 29, 2026
He, full of ‘No Kings’ pride against Trump, said “for the first time in my life, made me feel something akin to gratitude to a British monarch and outright awe for his speechwriters.”
That’s a lot different for someone who had cried out against an alleged king’s rule of the U.S.
O’Donnell continued on to compare the King’s Speech to a certain former president, as he said the speech “reads like a Biden State of the Union address,” but still Republicans clapped since it was read in a “posh British accent.”
He went on, “This was the day that I hoped at least some high school kids were watching. American high school kids who have grown up in the dark shadow of Donald Trump.”
Of course, O’Donnell overlooked other portions of the speech like the jokes and references to the U.S.’s and U.K.’s foundation of Christian faith, along with more unifying messages from the King.
Finally, the MS NOW host wrapped his monologue as he said the King made an Epstein acknowledgment in his speech, something that Trump supposedly did not do. The King’s line of, “to support victims of some of the ills that so tragically exist in both our societies today” was supposedly that acknowledgment, according to a royal report he quoted.
O’Donnell wrapped his monologue with an interesting comparison of the moment of Trump's second term to the American Revolution from the “insane” and “mad” King George III:
And here we are, 250 years after the madness of King George the Third helped drive the American colonies into revolution against the crown, and when Charles became the first British king to address the Congress today, he found the madness on this side of the Atlantic.
O’Donnell may have just described the moment of the King’s visit and Trump’s presidency as similar to the U.S. Revolution from the British Monarchy.
His comparison was somewhat veiled, but he has consistently referred to Trump as insane over the past months and years.
The “dark shadow” he described is just another exaggeration, and references to revolutions only inflated the situation amid the aftermath of Trump’s third assassination attempt.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s The Last Word w/ Lawrence O’Donnell
April 28, 2026
10:04:40 PM Eastern
(...)
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: And in that county today stepped the King of England, who played an unprecedented part in another desperately humiliating day for Donald Trump's Washington. And for once, the King himself was not the humiliated one. No one humiliates Trump lawyers more than Donald Trump, and he could not have done more to humiliate the already humiliated Todd Blanche than he did today. By getting the goofiest indictment America has ever seen out of Todd Blanche after literally years of Donald Trump urging the indictment of James Comey.
And Donald Trump's humiliation today was delivered to him by his guest of honor, the King of England, who, for the first time in my life, made me feel something akin to gratitude to a British monarch and outright awe for his speechwriters. The speechwriters had the task of telling the truth in a chamber where half of the members applaud and cheer Donald Trump's pathological lies. And today, the King of England and his speechwriters had those same Republicans applauding sharp criticism and complete disagreement with Donald Trump.
(...)
10:07:25 PM Eastern
O’DONNELL: And now we know. We know you can get the Republicans in that room to applaud what reads like a Biden State of the Union address. You can get the Republicans in that room to applaud a speech that completely contradicts Donald Trump if the speech is delivered in a posh British accent.
This was the day that I hope at least some high school kids were watching. American high school kids who have grown up in the dark shadow of Donald Trump. High school kids who in most of their lifetimes now have been living under a Donald Trump presidency filled with uncouth public profanity and rank stupidity and an inability to simply read the words put in front of him by his speechwriters and skip the idiotic ad libs.
(...)
10:16:52 PM Eastern
KING CHARLES III: In both of our countries. It is the very fact of our vibrant, diverse, and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including to support victims of some of the ills that so tragically exist in both our societies today.
O’DONNELL: In his reporting today, Jack Royston quotes a royal aide saying that that line was about the Epstein survivors, quote, “it was certainly in his majesty's mind to acknowledge victims of abuse. So they are naturally incorporated in this line.”
It's not much. In fact, it is very, very little. It couldn't be smaller. It's the smallest and most indirect acknowledgment of the Epstein survivors' suffering that the speechwriters could have come up with, but it's something. It is more than Donald Trump has ever said about them.
Charles's fifth great-grandfather was the King of England during the American Revolution. King George lost his mind during his rule. He was literally insane, which was dramatized in the wonderful 1991 play by the British playwright Alan Bennett, titled “The Madness of George the Third.”
And here we are, 250 years after the madness of King George the Third helped drive the American colonies into revolution against the crown, and when Charles became the first British King to address the Congress today, he found the madness on this side of the Atlantic.
(...)
