MSNBC Host Threatens to Quit After Show Pulled

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough called out the network for not televising his morning show Monday following the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and threatened to quit if the network repeats its decision.

Scarborough, his wife Mika Brzezinski, and Willie Geist co-host "Morning Joe," which did not air Monday morning.

Scarborough on Tuesday told viewers that the show's staff had been told Sunday evening that all of MSNBC's lineup would be preempted for a single NBC News feed in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

"That did not happen," Scarborough said of the news feed. "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.

"We were very surprised. We were very disappointed, and if we had known that there wasn't going to be the one news feed across from NBC News across all NBC News channels, Willie, we obviously would have been in yesterday morning."

After Geist explained that he took part in NBC's coverage on Sunday, Brzezinski talked about the importance of their show. Then Scarborough chimed in.

"Next time we're told there's going to be a newsfeed replacing us, we will be in our chairs," he said. "The newsfeed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show."

CNN first reported Sunday evening that NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde made the decision to pull "Morning Joe" in conjunction with MSNBC President Rashida Jones and Scarborough and Brzezinski.

The decision was made over concerns a guest might make an inappropriate comment that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole, CNN reported.

MSNBC previously made similar programming decisions, notably last year after the Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In the days after the event, the network quietly pulled three of its Muslim broadcasters from the air amid criticism from some pro-Israeli forces over its tone of coverage. The move left some staffers at the network feeling uncomfortable, according to Semafor.

Scarborough is a former Florida Republican congressman who's now independent.