Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were absent from Friday’s broadcast – just a day after a controversial on-air rant.
The husband and wife have been embroiled in a lot of drama after visiting newly elected President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, which infuriated their viewers.
Scarborough added fuel to the fire when he went on a 20-minute rant Thursday in response to critics who said he “feared” Trump.
On Friday, the pair were noticeably absent from their anchor seats.
However, their absence was pre-planned when Scarborough announced they would travel to Arkansas to interview former President Bill Clinton.
The host’s 20-minute tirade began Thursday morning in response to an article by David Frum in The Atlantic, in which Frum accused the liberal network hosts of indulging their fear of the newly elected president.
“Just because some people have said we’re scared, let me tell you something. You can talk to anyone who has worked in the front office of NBC or MSNBC over the last 22 years and they will tell you I am not afraid. Scarborough said defiantly.
Frum wrote his article on Wednesday about how Mika Brzezinski apologized on air after a segment with him in which he disparaged Fox News.
Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were absent from Friday’s broadcast – just a day after a controversial on-air rant (pictured)
The pair had noticeably disappeared from their anchor seats on Friday (photo). However, their absence was pre-planned when Scarborough announced they would travel to Arkansas to interview former President Bill Clinton.
During the segment, Frum made the comment, “If you’re too drunk for Fox News, you’re very, very drunk indeed” while talking about the allegations against Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
Scarborough fired back Thursday that they were not apologizing, but stated that the comment about Fox was “too light-hearted” at this time.
Brzezinski noted that MSNBC is a very different place than Fox News in terms of reporting, but felt it went too far.
“I just want to say that there are a lot of good people at Fox News who care about Pete Hegseth, and we’re going to leave it at that.”
However, the accusation of the couple’s fear of Trump appeared to have struck a nerve, as Scaborough vehemently defended their trip to Mar-a-Lago after Trump won the election.
“If you talk to anyone who served in Congress with me, they will tell you that you are not afraid of leadership. Now: Don’t be afraid,” Scarborough added.
He said Morning Joe tried to get Frum back on the show to discuss his allegations, claiming there was no paper to print the crack about Fox.
The host’s 20-minute tirade began Thursday morning in response to an article by David Frum (pictured) in The Atlantic, in which Frum accused the liberal network hosts of indulging in fear of the newly elected president.
They also apologized after Frum made a comment about Pete Hegseth (pictured). During the segment, Frum made the comment, “If you’re too drunk for Fox News, you’re very, very drunk indeed” while talking about allegations against the nominee for Secretary of Defense
“I’m telling you, the sound of fear, the apology, none of it is true,” he said. “But guess what, this has been going on for several weeks now.”
Scarborough continued to defend his and Brzezinski’s visit to Florida to meet Trump after the election, saying people wrote articles about it that were “simply false.”
He decried criticism of their background conversation with the president-elect, arguing that other media organizations have also spoken to him.
“If they have the opportunity to have background conversations with the incoming president and the president-elect, they would,” he continued.
He called the critical articles written about it “scandalously stupid, immature” and said they “lied about us over and over again.”
Scarborough nearly shouted when he said journalists are trying to talk to the president and have background conversations.
“And besides, guess what? That’s what I’ve been doing for years,” he told viewers.
He pointed out that he also speaks to Middle Eastern leaders who are not “good people” to get information and “give it to you.”
Scarborough said the only difference between what they did with their visit to Mar-a-Lago and other media organizations was that they were transparent about it.
“We actually told you,” he declared.