MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough brushes off backlash to his meeting with Trump

The Morning Joe star Joe Scarborough brushed off criticism of last week’s meeting with Donald Trump in Florida amid reports that the get-together was motivated by the liberal news network show host’s fear of retribution from the US president-elect.

Scarborough, along with his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, revealed during Monday’s broadcast that they personally met with Donald Trump last week to “restart communications” following their unrelenting opposition to his campaign for the White House.

During the opening of Tuesday’s show, Scarborough thanked viewers who had reached out with support but dismissed those criticizing their decision to meet with Trump, accusing their online critics of being disconnected from “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,” said the MSNBC host.

He went on to say that his choice to stay off “Twitter” (now X) allowed him to have a good day despite the flow of backlash.

People on social media platforms beyond X also disparaged the hosts’ decision to hold a meeting with Trump after previously being among his most vocal critics.

“Morning Joe going to mar a lago was not a good start to the week,” wrote Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican member of Congress and Maga critic, on Bluesky.

Keith Edwards, a political strategist and YouTuber, vowed that he “will never go on Morning Joe again” in a post.

But Scarborough’s defense of the meeting came at the same time as the CNN media reporter Brian Stelter posted a story that said the two hosts were “credibly concerned that they could face governmental and legal harassment from the incoming Trump administration”.

Trump and his allies have made no secret of their disdain for most US mainstream media, frequently dubbing them enemies and threatening punishment and retribution against them.

Despite the backlash to his meeting with Trump, Scarborough stood by his “new approach” to political commentary on the show named for him.

“All of us will do the best we can do, and we’re all working towards a better America,” Scarborough said on Tuesday’s broadcast.