On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the hosts made an awkward attempt at humor while discussing reports about the potential sale of the network. A recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that Comcast is contemplating spinning off its NBC Universal-owned cable channels, including the very network that employs them, MSNBC.
According to Amol Sharma of the WSJ, Comcast is expected to announce on Wednesday its plans to separate its NBCUniversal cable television networks. This decision comes as the company realizes that divesting a business once considered its flagship may be more beneficial. The separation involves entertainment and news channels such as MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, and the Golf Channel, which together generated around $7 billion in revenue in the twelve months leading up to September 30.
After Mika Brzezinski delivered a straightforward report on the situation, Joe Scarborough tried to ease the tension by joking about his co-host and wife, relating her to a penthouse. Scarborough quipped, “I will say really quickly on this, you know, Drudge at the top said, ‘News melts down!’ all this other stuff,” referencing the news aggregation site, the Drudge Report.
“I could be completely wrong: we could all be fired a year from now. You never know what’s going to happen,” Scarborough continued. To this, Brzezinski interjected, with a somewhat forced laugh, “Or tomorrow,” clearly uneasy about the show’s precarious situation.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump shed light on his recent 90-minute meeting with the “Morning Joe” co-hosts, which took place last week after his notable victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
During the Monday program, Scarborough and Brzezinski described the meeting as an attempt to revive a relationship that had been stagnant for nearly seven years. “On Friday, we had the chance to meet with Trump and voice our concerns regarding some of his appointments,” Brzezinski explained. “Joe and I traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a personal meeting with President-elect Trump. This was our first encounter in seven years.”
Scarborough mentioned that their conversation covered a range of subjects, including abortion, mass deportation, and threats of political retribution against opponents and media figures, implicitly referencing people like Rachel Maddow, who has controversially suggested that Trump might imprison her in a concentration-style camp.
Despite their differing views, Brzezinski noted, “What we did agree on was to rebuild communication.” She added, “We hadn’t communicated with President Trump since March 2016, except for a personal call Joe made to him after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. During this meeting, he seemed upbeat and eager to find common ground with Democrats on some contentious issues. For those questioning why we chose to engage with the president-elect at such a sensitive time, I would ask: why wouldn’t we?”
“Five years of political conflict have deeply polarized Washington and the country. We have been clear about our serious concerns regarding President Trump’s rhetoric and actions that have harmed public discourse. However, for nearly eighty million Americans, issues like election denial, public trials, and the events of January 6th were not viewed as critically as other matters,” she explained.
“Joe and I see the need for a new approach, which starts not only with discussions about Donald Trump but also with actively engaging in dialogue with him,” she said.
In response to the meeting, Trump mentioned in an interview with Fox News that achieving his goal of “Making America Great Again” requires a “free, fair, and open media.” He emphasized his belief in the importance of collaboration with the press, including those who have treated him “badly beyond comprehension.”
During the interview, Trump asserted that he is committed to making America “the greatest and most powerful country in the world.” He stated, “To Make America Great Again, having a free, fair, and open media or press is crucial, if not imperative,” and elaborated on his meeting with Scarborough and Brzezinski.
“I received a request from Joe Scarborough for a meeting with him and Mika, and I agreed it would be beneficial. We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning at 8:00,” Trump recalled.
Describing the meeting as “extremely cordial,” Trump noted, “We covered numerous topics, and I appreciated their desire for open communication. In many respects, it’s unfortunate that this didn’t happen much earlier.”
Trump added that they “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books,’ which I genuinely believe it was, but it was also a campaign where I dedicated extensive effort—perhaps more than any presidential candidate in history.”