“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough has responded to his show being pulled from MSNBC on Monday in the wake of the failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
Scarborough complained that he was “very disappointed” at the decision to pull his anti-Trump show.
MSNBC replaced Scarborough’s show with NBC News special reporting on Monday.
The move left political and media observers surprised that the divisive show was sidelined at a historic political moment.
Returning to the airwaves on Tuesday, Scarborough took some time at the top of the show’s second hour to address the issue.
“We were told, in no uncertain terms, on Sunday evening, that there was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels yesterday,” Scarborough said.
He was referring in part to NBC’s parent network and his home at MSNBC, the left-leaning cable affiliate.
“That was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels,” Scarborough continued.
“That we were going to stay as a network in breaking news mode throughout all day yesterday.
“That did not happen. We don’t know why that didn’t happen.
“Our team was not given a good answer as to why that didn’t happen, but it didn’t happen.”
On Monday, the show’s producers and hosts had been informed that “Morning Joe” had been pulled.
However, they were left shocked and upset when the anti-Trump show appeared to be the only significant MSNBC program on Monday to be sidelined.
“We were very surprised,” Scarborough said on Tuesday.
“We were very disappointed,” he complained.
“And if we had known that there wasn’t going to be the one news feed from NBC News across all NBC News channels, Willie [Geist], we obviously would have been in yesterday morning.”
Scarborough quipped the next time the hosts are told a news feed would be replacing them, they would be in their chairs and ready to broadcast.
Mika Brzezinski and co-host Willie Geist added they wanted to be on air yesterday.
“This show began, and continues 17 years later, on being the place where you can go to have the hard conversations in a civil way,” Brzezinski said.
“So it seemed like, now more than ever, is a day, a time that we would like to be on.
“I think our viewers agree with that.”
“And the newsfeed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show,” Scarborough said, seeming to suggest he and his wife would quit if it happened again.
The hosts and production team of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” were “shocked” on Monday by the circumstances of their show’s benching.
The decision came in the aftermath of the stunning assassination attempt on Trump.
According to a network source, the show’s production team was informed by network leadership Cesar Conde – the chair of NBCUniversal News Group – and Rashida Jones – the president of left-leaning cable affiliate MSNBC – that all MSNBC programming on Monday would be supplanted until primetime by a single NBC News programming feed.
It was presumed that the feed would air across all NBC platforms.
Scarborough and Brzezinski assented to the plan.
However, NBC’s “Today” aired a new episode Monday morning and most of MSNBC’s regular programming proceeded as usual after “Morning Joe.”
Hosts like Andrea Mitchell and Chris Jansing took their chairs on a busy news day that included the announcement of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as Trump’s 2024 running mate.
They also reported on the dismissal of the classified document case against Trump in Florida.
Left-wing political hosts Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, and Rachel Maddow led the network’s Republican National Convention coverage in the late afternoon and evening.
The network came under fire for sidelining one of its signature shows on Monday.
A CNN report said one of the reasons for the decision was fear that a “Morning Joe” guest could say something inappropriate in the wake of Trump’s shooting.
An MSNBC spokesman staunchly denied that report, however.
One of the most influential shows in politics and media, “Morning Joe” is a hotbed of anti-Trump commentary.
The show’s hosts are vocally supportive of Democrat President Joe Biden.
At the outset of the show on Monday, Scarborough castigated the security failings that allowed Trump to be nearly killed in Pennsylvania.
The 45th president was wounded and one of his supporters was killed in the shooting, while two others were critically hurt.
