MSNBC hosts Stephanie Ruhle and Ali Velshi have been compelled to issue on-air corrections after airing erroneous reports claiming that Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, had described President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "very good friends."
The misinformation stemmed from a misinterpretation of Gabbard’s remarks during an interview with Indian news network NDTV, where she was actually discussing Trump’s relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The false narrative began with a now-retracted Associated Press (AP) story published on March 17, titled "Gabbard Says Trump and Putin are ‘Very Good Friends’ Focused on Strengthening Ties."
MSNBC hosts ran with this headline on their Monday broadcasts. Ruhle, on "The 11th Hour," suggested Gabbard’s alleged statement showed Trump’s disconnect from American values, while Velshi, filling in on "The Last Word," framed it as a dangerous stance on U.S.-Russia relations. Both claims were amplified by their guests, who built arguments around the fabricated quote.
MSNBC issues an on camera correction after they claimed that Tulsi Gabbard said President Trump is “good friends“ with Putin.
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) March 19, 2025
She was really referring to India Prime Minister Modi.
pic.twitter.com/3WGCCxm9ZJ
By Tuesday, the full NDTV interview surfaced, revealing Gabbard’s actual reference to Modi, not Putin.
Ruhle corrected her report near the end of her show, stating, "Last night we reported… that Trump was good friends with a world leader. We said that world leader was Vladimir Putin. But the full interview shows that Gabbard was referring to Trump and Indian Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. Cleared that up." Velshi issued a similar clarification, noting the interview "showed that Gabbard was referring to Donald Trump and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi." Neither host offered an apology or elaborated on the error’s impact.
The incident drew sharp criticism on X, with users accusing MSNBC of pushing a political narrative. Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning, called out the AP on X, labeling it "total trash" for the misleading headline and suggesting it exemplified media bias. The AP acknowledged the error, retracting the story with an editor’s note: "This story was updated on Mar. 17, 2025, to delete erroneous reporting," admitting it "did not meet our standards."
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