NBC accused of being 'sexist' after replacing Rachel Maddow with Brian Williams to cover Syria missile incident

Rachel Maddow's fans are not happy.

People took Twitter to express their outrage at "sexist" NBC after the MSNBC anchor, host of "The Rachel Maddow Show," was replaced by Brian Williams during breaking news coverage of the U.S. missile attack on Thursday night.

Williams, the breaking news anchor for the network, took over during Maddow's 9 p.m. slot when news broke that the U.S. military fired more than 50 missiles at Syrian base in response to what it believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people.

Numerous people bashed the news network for its decision, with many agreeing that Maddow was more than competent enough to cover the incident on her own. To add fuel to the fire, the host is actually somewhat of a military expert, having written a book in 2012 about the conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan.

Because Williams is the breaking news anchor for the network, it means that he takes over the airwaves at MSNBC during big events no matter who's hosting at the time -- which is strict protocol that viewers may not have realized.

During the segment, Williams further raised eyebrows over his description of the tragic incident, describing the missiles against Syria as "beautiful." One person was quick to point out the eyebrow-raising moment on Twitter:

A cloud of controversy still hangs over Brian Williams following his six-month suspension in 2015 for lying about various reporting experiences. He was pulled as anchor for "NBC Nightly News" and was replaced by Lester Holt. He returned in September 2015 and has helmed MSNBC's breaking news coverage ever since.

Meanwhile, Maddow has had phenomenal ratings as of late -- which she has scandal-clad Bill O'Reilly to thank for. Maddow topped the FOX News-stalwart in the key adults 25-54 demographic on Wednesday as he continues to deal with fallout from recent revelations of multiple sexual harassment claims.