Lefty MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were ripped for flip-flopping hypocrisy Monday when they revealed they met privately with President-elect Donald Trump after years of viciously criticizing him.
The defeated MSNBC anchors — who have slammed Trump in the past as a “fascist” and compared him to Adolf Hitler — had a face-to-face with the winning Republican at his Mar-a-Lago estate Friday to “restart communications” after conceding that Americans had overwhelmingly made their choice by re-electing him.
The ensuing backlash against the pair was swift from all sides, with many blasting Scarborough and Brzezinski for their “shamelessness” — as others raged they were “bending the knee” and “kissing the ring” by arranging their first sit-down with him in seven years.
“Hitler getting a lot more meeting requests than I would’ve thought,” Republican strategist Scott Jennings wrote on X, referring to the co-hosts’ past attacks on Trump.
Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York tweeted, “Annals of shamelessness: They call Trump a fascist, and much, much more, and then, just 22 days after his ‘Nazi-like’ rally, they fly to Florida for an audience.”
Eli Lake, a Free Press columnist, wrote, “Why would Trump bother talking to these people other than to urge them to seek mental health counseling?”
Critics came out in droves to accuse the lefty anchors of hypocrisy after years of repeatedly bashing the Republican on-air.
“Once again… Democrats never actually thought Trump was Hitler or a fascist dictator. If you were propagandized, it’s ok. You got played,” someone tweeted.
Another X user chimed in, “Imagine being a liberal and listening to Morning Joe and Mika tell you for years that Trump is a threat to democracy… Then one morning you wake up and hear Comrade Mika admit that they bent the knee to Trump.”
Others accused the talking heads of just trying to salvage ratings with their apparent about-face, which some described as a “hostage video.”
“Bend the knee to the King in order to save their careers,” a person wrote on X.
Another site user added, “Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski didn’t go to Mar-a-Lago to achieve unity with Trump. They went because their network is down 50% viewership and is on the verge of being sold — so they went and kissed the ring.”
A third person wrote, “This is why people don’t trust the mainstream media anymore. Joe and Mika who constantly attack ‘fascist’ Trump on their show, went to Mar a Lago to talk with Trump over the weekend.”
Some viewers stressed they were “gutted” by the admission and suggested they would no longer be tuning in to the morning news program.
“Gutted by Joe and Mika this morning. Total capitulation after years of railing about his lack of fitness. Not even an interview to show their ‘journalistic integrity’. Just a pure kiss-the-ring session. Disappointed and done with them and their show,” a viewer tweeted.
The reactions poured in soon after Scarborough and Brzezinski opened their Monday show with the revelation they’d had a “personal” sit-down with the president-elect in Florida after reaching out in the wake of his election win.
Addressing the expected backlash over news of their face-to-face, Scarborough insisted during his opening monologue that the co-hosts — who have previously accused the Republican of being a threat to democracy — weren’t trying to “normalize” Trump.
“Don’t be mistaken, we are not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump,” he claimed.
“We are 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.”