Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” announced Monday they had met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week in an effort to reopen the lines of communication for the first time in seven years.
Scarborough and Brzezinski, who are married, told the audience that although they disagree with Trump on most issues, they felt it was important to speak with him following the “five years of political warfare” that has divided our country. Notably, this announcement was made after the network’s viewership has reportedly plummeted by a double-digit percentage drop since Election Day.
‘Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him.’
“Over the past week, Joe and I have heard from so many people, from political leaders to regular citizens deeply dismayed by several of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet selections, and they are scared,” Brzezinski said. “Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself.
“On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that,” Brzezinski continued. “Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years.”
The co-hosts have been some of Trump’s most vocal critics for nearly a decade, as well as frequently hosting prominent Democratic lawmakers on their platform. Despite their differences, Scarborough and Brzezinski noted it was their job as commentators to set aside their disagreements.
“Now, we talked about a lot of issues, including abortion, mass deportation, threats of political retribution against political opponents and media outlets,” Scarborough said. “We talked about that a good bit. And it’s gonna come as no surprise to anybody who watches this show, has watched it over the past year or over the past decade, that we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues. And we told him so.”
“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Brzezinski said.
The co-hosts also emphasized Trump’s desire to work across the aisle with Democrats and to mend the division our country has experienced over the years.
“My father often spoke with world leaders with whom he and the United States profoundly disagreed,” Brzezinski continued. “That’s a task shared by reporters and communicators alike.”
“In this meeting, President Trump was tearful. He was upbeat. He seemed interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues,” Brzezinski said. “And for those asking why we would go speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, why wouldn’t we?”
Brzezinski went on to say that although they personally disagreed with Trump, they wanted to factor in the tens of millions of people who supported him.
“Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country,” Brzezinski said. “We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s actions and words in the coarsening of public debate.”
“But for nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, and January 6 were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote,” Brzezinski continued. “Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him.”
Trump also spoke to Fox News of the meeting, saying it was “extremely cordial.”
“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair, and open media or press,” Trump told Fox News.
“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
“And while many others are calling for meetings, I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding, or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly or even badly beyond comprehension,” Trump continued. “I am always looking to give a second and even third chance, but never willing to give a fourth chance — that is where I hold the line.”
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