MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski shocked viewers Monday morning, revealing they had traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the second coming of Hitler … er, Donald Trump.
The pair kicked off the show noting that they’ve heard from “so many people,” including “political leaders” who are outright “dismayed at President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominations.
“And they are scared,” Brzezinski claimed.
And thus, media firefighters that they are, she and Joe decided to run straight into the flames of Hell.
“Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the President-elect himself,” Mika continued. “On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that.”
“Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years.”
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
The host reported that Trump was “cheerful” and “upbeat” during the visit, even though the pair have been two of his most vocal critics in recent years.
It was just days before the election that Brzezinski was fighting off tears over the prospect of a second Trump term, having described his rally at Madison Square Garden as “one weird, white nationalist, Nazi-type rally.”
So you could see the disdain on her face as she described meeting the leader of that “Nazi-type rally.”
Joe rescued her, interjecting before she threw up in her mouth a bit, and noted the discussion with Trump was fruitful. They covered topics like abortion, the mass deportation of illegal aliens, and worries that he might retaliate against his political opponents and media outlets.
So brave. So stunning.
Added Mika, “What we did agree on was to restart communications.”
Brzezinski would add that Trump seemed “interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues.”
Still, they knew that glimmer of hope would not be enough for viewers, and Mika felt compelled to justify their actions to their audience.
“And for those asking why we would go speak to the President-elect during such fraught times – especially between us – I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn’t we?'” she wondered.
“Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country. We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s actions and words in the coarsening of public debate.”
That’s going to be a hard sell to an audience that despises Trump to his core (mostly due to MSNBC’s misinformation warfare) but who also believes Joe and Mika helped mainstream him during his 2016 presidential campaign before their falling out.
Watching the blowback on this one is going to be glorious.
Here’s part two of @Morning_Joe‘s prepared remarks about the Trump meeting. “Don’t be mistaken. We are not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump,” @JoeNBC says. “We are here to report on him” and provide insights in “these deeply unsettling times.” pic.twitter.com/DTplzTSKhs
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 18, 2024
Keep in mind these are the same people who forced NBC to drop former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel after she had been hired as an analyst. Scarborough, you may recall, threw a temper tantrum and insisted she would never appear on his show because of her ties to Trump.
Joe Scarborough and Mika criticize NBC for hiring Ronna McDaniel. pic.twitter.com/t6874Bo85Y
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 25, 2024
Now, they’re using Mar-a-Lago as an Airbnb so they can get back in with the cool crowd again.
The defensive tone continued as Joe vowed to keep up the good fight.
“Don’t be mistaken,” he said. “We’re not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump. We’re here to report on him and to hopefully provide you insights that are going to better equip all of us in understanding these deeply unsettling times.”
They’re only unsettling to you, Joe. The rest of us are optimistic and dancing – literally – at what the future holds.
