Although these days it is hard to imagine, the truth is that "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski once had such a friendly relationship with President Donald J. Trump it became a source of concern at MSNBC’s parent company NBC.
Scarborough regularly heaped praise on then-candidate Trump and was even rumored to be one of Trump’s possible running mates.
The former Florida congressman actually refused to rule out running as Trump’s vice president and was known to have doled out political advice to him in the pre-election season. As a result, Scarborough took a great deal of heat from the elites in the mainstream media.
As for Mika, like virtually every other Democrat in existence, she was certain at the time that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would ultimately assume the Oval Office.
Trump was a regular guest on the couple’s cable TV show during the early stages of his candidacy and "Morning Joe" was ironically one of the biggest boosters of the Trump GOP primary effort.
On Feb. 10, 2016, then-candidate Trump made it a point to thank Joe and Mika for their assistance to his campaign. "You guys have been supporters, and I really appreciate it," Trump said in a phone interview on their MSNBC show.
Perhaps realizing that morning anchors might feel a sense of discomfort in being referred to as "supporters," Trump added, "And not necessarily supporters, but at least believers."
On Feb. 17, 2016, Joe and Mika hosted a "town hall" for Trump. According to a leaked audio recording, which was purported to contain the voices of the MSNBC hosts, one of the goals of the event was to "make us all look good."
Slate.com was not pleased by what took place. In an article titled "MSNBC’s Town Hall With Donald Trump Was Disgraceful," the writer of the Salte.com article described the event in the following way, "Scarborough and Brzezinski hosted what appeared to be a rehearsed and 'safe' town hall . . . It was completely worthless television . . . "
MSNBC staff was reportedly growing more and more uncomfortable with the close relationship that Scarborough was displaying with Trump, describing it as "unseemly."
Joe and Mika found themselves being chastised by the establishment media for being too Trump-friendly.
Of course, rejection is something few people relish. The fact of the matter is most of us are on an eternal quest for acceptance; this is particularly true when it comes to gaining the approval of our peers.
Apparently for Joe and Mika, the way back into the good graces of MSNBC, CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, among others, was to join in with the daily mainstream media attacks on President Trump.
Consequently a dramatic reversal occurred in May of 2016. Scarborough, both on the air and in a Washington Post editorial, declared that Trump did not have the ability to win the election.
Possibly experiencing a dose of shock and betrayal, Trump, as which he is prone to do, took to his Twitter account in an effort to counter Scarborough.
The then-candidate correctly tweeted that Joe and Mika’s cable show had become "hostile" and that the two misrepresented his views.
In February of 2017, Joe and Mika ratcheted things up even higher, unveiling a new extremely antagonistic approach, totally devoid of journalistic standards, against now-President Trump.
Mika called Trump’s administration a "fake presidency." She also claimed that Kellyanne Conway pitched "fake news" and abruptly banned Conway from the show, characterizing her messages as "politics porn."
In May of 2017, Scarborough suggested that the president suffered from dementia and called him a "bumbling, bumbling dope."
In June of the same year, Scarborough used juvenile language to describe the president as a child who had soiled himself, while Mika provided the accompanying giggles.
In one of his trademark monologues, Fox News’s top-rated host Sean Hannity displayed a video montage of Joe and Mika’s attacks on the president. Footage included Scarborough using additional immature pejoratives in reference to Trump, including the slurs "thug," "goon," and “Vladimir Putin’s hostage."
In the same montage, Mika is shown spouting the current Democratic meme, that is, to question the president’s mental fitness to be commander in chief.
Each time Joe and Mika went on the attack against the president, they received kudos from their metropolitan press colleagues as well as establishment politicians. Their words predictably went viral on the social media. This stands in sharp contrast to the treatment they had been receiving from media and political elites when they were ostracized for having been perceived as being part of the Trump camp.
For his part, the president has defended himself in the same way he always has. First lady Melania Trump once described it in this way: When hit, her husband is going to respond by "hitting back ten times as hard."
American voters have chosen a president who fights back, and whenever he and his family are subjected to smears, vilification, and mockery, he will do just that.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.
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