(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough hit back Tuesday at the “massive disconnect” of reactions to Morning Joe restarting communications with Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Scarborough and his co-host wife, Mika Brzezinski, traveled to Mar-a-Lago on Friday for a “personal” sit-down meeting with Trump, which sparked sour reactions among media figures on both sides of the political aisle.
On Tuesday’s show, the Morning Joe crew addressed the media meltdown triggered by their announcement on Monday.
“Yesterday I saw for the first time what a massive disconnect there was between social media and the real world,” Scarborough commented.
Scarborough said he and Brzezinski were “flooded” with phone calls all day from people across the world who were supportive of their decision to talk to Trump.
However, he told viewers the occasional “I hope you’re doing OK” text would find its way into his notifications.
BREAKING: Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) fires back at critics over Trump meeting, says while he was being blasted online and in the media (including by @TheView's Sunny Hostin), “real-world people” were praising him and his wife, Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika), at an event yesterday,… pic.twitter.com/a08b7e0o3f
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) November 19, 2024
Scarborough blamed negative reactions to his post-election Trump meeting on X.
“We’ve had a good day. Mika just had a wonderful event, and it’s fantastic,” he said. “All of us are going to do the best we can do, and we’re all working towards a better America.”
Brzezinski chimed in by saying they must “take it day by day.”
Leftist The View co-host Sunny Hostin fumed over Morning Joe’s first meeting with Trump in seven years, criticizing Scarborough and Brzezinski for being “opinion journalists.”
“The bottom line is that America needs a free press that is willing to speak truth to power right now,” Hostin said. “More than ever. And I think that we have to be very clear-eyed when we think about the president-elect and cover the president-elect.”
Hostin continued to bash the meeting between Trump and the MSNBC hosts.
“And I don’t think you need to sit down for 90 minutes at Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring to be able to speak truth and to be able to cover a story,” she added.
The View’s Sunny Hostin stumbles into the realization that Morning Joe is not journalism after Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough met with Trump.
"I don't think you need to sit down for 90 minutes, at Mar-a-Lago and 'kiss his ring'…"
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) November 18, 2024
On the conservative side of commentary, SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly bashed the Trump-hating Morning Joe co-hosts as “dishonest jokes,” suggesting they see the writing on the wall and met with the president-elect to save their MSNBC jobs.
Kelly had three words for for Scarborough and Brzezinski: “Go f**k yourselves.”
“Literally no one wants to see this fence mended,” she added.
Trump told Fox News his sit-down with the Morning Joe co-hosts was “extremely cordial” and “ended in a very positive manner.”
The president-elect revealed that he, Brzezinski and Scarborough would be on speaking terms in the future.
NEW
On MSNBC, @morningmika and @JoeNBC say that they went to Mar-a-Lago this weekend and met with President-elect Trump for the first time in seven years.
Mika says that despite “profound disagreements,” they agreed with Trump to restart communications. pic.twitter.com/7rZwQkleWJ
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 18, 2024
On Monday’s broadcast of Morning Joe, Scarborough said discussion topics of the meeting consisted of abortion, mass deportation and the idea of “political retribution.”
“Joe and I realize it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him,” Brzezinski said.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
