“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough suggested that executives at MSNBC misled him as to why they wouldn’t air his show Monday, and he threatened to quit if the network did it again.
Scarborough, during his show’s return to the network on Tuesday, told his audience, “Let me just say: next time we’re told there’s going to be a news feed replacing us, we will be in our chairs,” he said. “The news feed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show.”
“We were very surprised. We were very disappointed,” said Scarborough.
MSNBC pulled “Morning Joe” from regular programming on Monday following an assassination attempt on former President Trump two days prior. Network executives reportedly suspended the show to prevent potentially inappropriate comments from on-air guests that could negatively impact the show and the network.
“The show was pulled to prevent its dozens of guests from making an inappropriate comment while live that could paint the show and network in a bad light,” CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported.
Scarborough claimed that he and co-host Mika Brzezinski were blindsided and misled. “We were told in no uncertain terms on Sunday evening that there was going to be one news feed across all NBC news channels yesterday,” Scarborough said. “That did not happen.”
Brzezinski, who is Scarborough’s wife, expressed her disappointment and confusion about MSNBC’s decision, saying their show is where people can have “hard conversations in a civil way.”
The pair have become among Biden’s most vocal supporters in the news media while vehemently opposing Trump, calling him a “dictator” and comparing him to Hitler. The show is recognized as a multi-hour anti-Trump fest, with both the hosts and their guests taking turns attacking the former president.
Earlier this year, Axios reported that President Joe Biden has an “obsession” with “Morning Joe.” The sitting president maintains a close relationship with Scarborough, frequently calling him for his advice on various issues. “Morning Joe” was the first program Biden called in to for an extended, and at times awkward, phone interview following his widely panned performance at the presidential debate last month.
