MSNBC staff lash out at 'Morning Joe' meeting with Trump: 'Disgusting but not surprising'

MSNBC staff lashed out at “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski after they shocked their liberal viewers by revealing their recent Mar-a-Lago meeting with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Cowardice,” one MSNBC employee responded to Fox News Digital. “Do well [anti-Trump historian] Tim Snyder warns our spirit not to: listen early. It's disgusting but frankly not surprising.”

The source said MSNBC's rank and file are now “absolutely disgusted” with the network's morning stars, saying they “appear to be opportunists.”

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Others took to social media to voice their opposition. MSNBC contributor Jennifer Rubin called it “disgusting” for Bluesky, an X-like social media site that is growing in popularity with progressives. MSNBC host Katie Phang gave an indirect swipe, posting on X, “Trump familiarity is a bad idea. Period.”

“Katie Phang is right. It's normal (and reaching bulls—),” an MSNBC employee told Fox News Digital. “Journalists do not need access to their studies to answer for themselves. Nothing is believable. The obvious answer is believable: they are opportunists.”

An insider expressed concern that MSNBC would face massive backlash because of Mar-a-Lago, meeting already left-leaning viewers. Some are already saying to boycott this network.

“This sounds serious,” they said. “I can't think [parent company] Comcast is thinking about this development. But the people at MSNBC do. ”

MSNBC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

One network insider defended the meeting and its intentions to Fox News Digital, saying they received “curious” criticism when athletes challenged Trump at the meeting about his speeches and positions.

“Not being sure when to express concern about threats against journalists and politicians was a bad thing,” they added.

Scarborough appears to be expecting a setback from Monday morning's meeting.

“We're not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump,” he told viewers. “We are here to report on him and we will hopefully provide you with information that will better equip us all to understand these very difficult times.”

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FILE – Republican presidential nominee then-President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, NC (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Scarborough and Brzezinski have emerged as two of Trump's fiercest critics since taking office, a complete reversal from the relationship they had with him during the 2016 GOP primary.

Friday's meeting was the first time they had seen Trump in seven years, Brzezinski said, and Scarborough added that they didn't “see eye to eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so.” Scarborough said they covered topics such as abortion, mass deportationand threats of punishment against political opponents and the media. The meeting, according to the administration, was about an agreement to “restart communications.”

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“For those who are asking why we would talk to the president-elect at such a difficult time, especially among us, I think I will ask – why don't we do that?” Brzezinski said. “Five years of political warfare have sharply divided Washington and the country. We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concern about President Trump's actions and words in the explosion of public debate.

“But for nearly 80 million Americans, the opposition to the election, the public hearings, on January 6, were not as important as the issues that drove them to return Donald Trump to the White House with their vote. Joe and I realize that it's time to do something different. , and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking to him.”

Scarborough and Brzezinski frequently interviewed Trump on their show during the 2016 Republican primary. (REUTERS/Scott Morgan)

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Trump spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday about the “very good” meeting he had with the MSNBC hosts.

“I got a call from Joe Scarborough asking for his meeting with Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such a meeting happened,” Trump said in the interview. “A lot of things were discussed, and I really appreciated the fact that they wanted to communicate openly … In many ways, it's too bad it wasn't done earlier.

“The meeting ended in a positive way, we agreed that we will talk in the future,” he added.

Fox News' David Rutz and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.