Joe Scarborough Defends Trump Meeting, Blames Viewer Backlash on ‘Massive Disconnect Between Social Media and the Real World’
by Todd Spangler · Variety“Morning Joe” co-anchor Joe Scarborough, after getting slammed by fans for his recent meeting with President-elect Donald Trump as Mar-a-Lago estate, suggested that critics are confusing the “real world” with the world of social media.
On Monday, the longtime MSNBC personality — and frequent target of Trump’s wrath — touched off a firestorm after he and his wife, co-host Mika Brzezinski, revealed that they visited him and at his Florida compound last Friday in an effort to “restart communications,” as Brzezinksi put it. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” Scarborough said.
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The negative reaction among “Morning Joe” viewers and others was swift — and largely negative. Among the critics slamming Scarborough and Brzezinski was media critic Jeff Jarvis, who in a post on X called their meeting with Trump a “betrayal of their colleagues, democracy and us all” and that it was “a disgusting show of obeisance in advance.”
On Tuesday morning’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough claimed he received many kudos for the Trump meeting and said the backlash highlighted how disconnected some people are with “the real world.”
“Yesterday, I saw for the first time what a massive disconnect there was between social media and the real world because we were flooded with phone calls from people all day, literally around the world, all very positive, very supportive, ‘I understand what you did…’ etc., etc.,” Scarborough said.
Scarborough added that “once in a while I would get a text or call from someone going, ‘Oh, man, I hope you’re doing okay.’ I would call them back. [Author and academic] Eddie Glaude was one of them. I’d go: ‘Are you on Twitter?’ And he goes, ‘I am.’ I’d go, ‘Well, I’m not, so we’ve had a good day. Mika had a wonderful event and it’s fantastic.’”
“All of us will do the best we can do and we’re all working towards a better America,” Scarborough told viewers. He prefaced his comments Tuesday by saying, “First of all, thank you to everyone who was so kind last night.”
In 2018, Trump prompted shock when he made remarks about Brzezinski’s appearance. “Crazy Mika” and “Psycho Joe” are phrases he has tried to make common, even though the hosts have with Willie Geist maintained one of the longest-running anchor teams on a national morning-news program.
The two have not spoken directly to Trump since March of 2020, Brzezinski said, except for a call Scarborough made to him following the recent attempt made on Trump’s life in Butler, Pa.
She said Trump was “cheerful,” “upbeat” and seemed “interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues.”
Trump told Fox News Digital that “many things were discussed,” during the meeting, “and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication. In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
Brzezinski said the duo remain opposed to many of the things Trump has done, but realized “it’s time to do something different” given the fact that Trump was elected to return to the White House despite the issues that concern them.