The hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” try harder than anyone to broadcast their opposition to the Trump administration.
But never forget that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski helped pave the way for Trump’s eventual rise to the White House with all the free airtime and friendly coverage they heaped on him during the 2016 GOP primaries.
“Sorry to say but [Fox and Friends] is by far the best of the morning political shows on television. It rightfully has by far the highest ratings, not even close. Morning Psycho (Joe), who helped get me elected in 2016 by having me on (free) all the time, has nosedived, too Angry,” the president said Tuesday morning during his angry tweeting hours.
Sorry to say but @foxandfriends is by far the best of the morning political shows on television. It rightfully has BY FAR the highest ratings, not even close. Morning Psycho (Joe), who helped get me elected in 2016 by having me on (free) all the time, has nosedived, too Angry…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
I mean, he’s not wrong. With the exception of Fox News’ Sean Hannity, no one in cable news did more to encourage the Trump candidacy during the 2016 Republican primary than “Morning Joe.” The coverage was not just a matter of professional curiosity for Scarborough and Brzezinski. We are talking cloying, ultra-friendly interviews and commentary.
The once “fruitful relationship” between Scarborough and Brzezinski and Trump included multiple soft-ball telephone and in-person interviews. They gave Trump more airtime than basically any of the other GOP candidates. For their near-obsessed coverage of the Queens businessman, “Morning Joe’s” flailing ratings were reversed, rewarding the hosts with a much-needed and coveted boost in viewership. The show’s pro-Trump bias extended even beyond programming hours. Scarborough bragged that he would call or visit Trump personally during the primaries to offer debate advice. Scarborough also penned a Washington Post op-ed wherein he claimed that conservatives who opposed Trump sounded like the “arrogant and unmoored … left-wing pundits let loose on MSNBC during the Bush years.”
The “Morning Joe” pro-Trump primary praise was so effusive, in fact, that the GOP candidate himself joked that they made him sound like a “legendary figure.”
The chumminess between the hosts and Trump was enough to prompt NBC Universal employees to complain anonymously to competing newsrooms.
But then Trump won the GOP nomination and the presidency came down to a fight between him and the Democratic nominee. That is about where the relationship between Trump and “Morning Joe” soured. It has been sour ever since.
“Trump is damaging the dream of America more than any terrorist attack ever could,” Scarborough said in promotion of a 2018 op-ed he wrote for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Earlier, in March 2018, Scarborough also claimed Republicans would be “fools” not to take seriously Trump’s joke that he wants to be president for life. Scarborough wrote and performed a saccharine tribute in January to the anti-Trump resistance.
In defense of Scarborough and Brzezinski, who could have known that a man who has been in the public eye for more than four decades would act exactly as he has for the entirety of his professional career? I mean, who could have seen this coming?
Scarborough and Brzezinski would like everyone to know that they are very much fans of the anti-Trump resistance. They just need everyone to forget the part where they helped Trump get elected.
