Tipsheet

MSNBC Hosts Met With Trump for First Time in 7 Years. They Explained Why, but There's More to the Story.

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  November 18, 2024 11:30 AM

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said they met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week, the first time they had seen him face-to-face in seven years. 

“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so,” Scarborough told MSNBC viewers.

“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Brzezinski added. “In this meeting, he was upbeat, cheerful and he seemed interested in finding common ground on some of the most divisive issues.”

Brzezinski then addressed what she knew would be on viewers’ minds.

“For those asking why we would go speak with the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us,” she continued. “I guess I would ask back: ‘Why wouldn’t we?'” 

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"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,” Brzezinski said. "But for nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, January 6, were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote. 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." 

Scarborough made sure that viewers didn’t misinterpret the meeting. 

"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."

The meeting comes amid steep declines in viewership for MSNBC in the wake of Trump's historic landslide win.