Morning Joe Host Joe Scarborough has defended his and wife Mika Brzezinski's meeting with Donald Trump, claiming he was “inundated with phone calls from people all day” despite online backlash.
“Yesterday we saw for the first time how huge a disconnect there is between social media and the real world, because we were bombarded with phone calls from people all day, literally from all over the world, so positive and so supportive,” Scarborough told viewers.
Scarborough said Monday that he and Brzezinski met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, in what they described as a “resumption” of their communications with the president-elect. They said the meeting was an opportunity to raise concerns about Trump's attacks on the media, among other issues, but talk of their détente quickly sparked online backlash.
Media pundit Jeff Jarvis called the Morning Joe-Trump meeting “a betrayal of their colleagues, democracy, and all of us.” It is a disgusting display of obedience in advance.”
In recent years, Morning Joe The hosts were harsh critics of Trump, comparing his rise to the rise of fascism. Meanwhile, Trump hailed the meeting as one in which they congratulated him on his presidential election victory.