MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson finally returned to the network’s airwaves on Wednesday afternoon after a months-long benching for inflammatory comments he made in February about staffers on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. 

Johnson, who had already drawn intense criticism for his fervently anti-Sanders commentary, was pulled off the air in late February when he claimed “racist white liberals” supported the Vermont senator, and said, “I don’t care how many people from the island of misfit black girls you throw out there to defend you.” Johnson would also lose his position as politics editor at digital outlet The Root after the tirade.

Making his return on MSNBC’s midday talk show Deadline: White House, Johnson was welcomed back by host Nicolle Wallace, who declared: “We have missed you, my friend.” At the end of the segment, Wallace told Johnson “we’re very glad you’re back” and let him know that she’d be calling on him “early and often” throughout the election.