MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski made GOP front-runner Donald Trump sound like a “legendary figure” last week, the billionaire businessman appeared to tell the show’s hosts in a conversation captured by a hot microphone.
Trump’s remarks, which came at a commercial break during a Feb. 17 “town hall” event hosted by Scarborough and Brzezinski, went largely unnoticed until comedian and radio show host Harry Shearer and Gawker brought it to their audiences’ attention this week.
The reportedly off-the-air conversation began with Scarborough saying of Trump’s commanding lead in the Palmetto State, “I tell you what, the Bloomberg poll — all the polls out today look great in South Carolina.”
Trump went on to win the South Carolina primary this weekend, taking 44 of the state’s 46 counties.
The casino tycoon then asked the “Morning Joe” hosts whether negative ads from his primary opponents, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have been having an effect on voters, to which both Brzezinski and Scarborough answered, “No.”
Brzezinski continued, saying that a clip of a Trump rally that they played on their show earlier that same day was a, “real wow moment” (Scarborough referred to the same moment that morning as “quite powerful”).
“You had me almost as a legendary figure,” the GOP front-runner appeared to say in response to her remark.
Asked for comment on the exchange, an NBCUniversal source told the Washington Examiner’s media desk that Trump sounded like he was just joking, and added that the comment was taken as a joke by his MSNBC hosts.
The conversation between Trump, Scarborough and Brzezinski comes as the “Morning Joe” hosts continue to dispute claims they are too chummy with Trump.
CNN reported this month that NBC employees are growing increasingly concerned about the nature of Scarborough’s relationship with Trump.
Citing as an example of the host’s familiarity with the GOP front-runner, CNN’s Dylan Byers underscored comments Scarborough said last year during a forum when he said, “I’ve actually called him up and said, ‘Donald, listen, you need to speak in complete sentences at debates. After the second debate … I walked into his office, I said, ‘Donald, do you know how to read? … I said, ‘You should read before a debate! … Read a paragraph on Syria, read a paragraph on education reform!’ ”
Byers continued, “The anecdotes, which were meant as a testament to Trump’s off-the-cuff political savvy, drew laughter from the audience. But today, at NBCUniversal’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center, Scarborough’s relationship with the Republican presidential front runner has become a subject of frustration among staff, and an increasingly problematic issue for the network’s top brass.
“In background discussions, NBC News and MSNBC journalists, reporters and staffers said there was widespread discomfort at the network over Scarborough’s friendship with Trump and his increasingly favorable coverage of the candidate,” he added.
Scarborough has, for his part, maintained that CNN’s characterization of his relationship with Trump is baloney.
