Mika Brzezinski surprised by backlash to Trump meeting, says it's because 'people are really scared'

"Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski said during a podcast connected Wednesday that she was amazed by the backlash she and co-host Joe Scarborough were getting for meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, attributing the furor to radical being "scared."

"I’ve been amazed astatine the backlash, and the mode I look astatine it is, radical are truly scared," she said connected "The Daily Beast Podcast." "It’s 1 of the reasons we went successful there, is radical are truly frightened astir Donald Trump’s comments astir governmental adversaries, a batch of radical are frightened due to the fact that of what has happened with abortion. These are each issues that are important to maine and successful immoderate ways idiosyncratic to me, but decidedly idiosyncratic to the radical I truly attraction about."

Brzezinski joined the programme hosted by Samantha Bee and Joanna Coles connected Wednesday to sermon the aftermath of her and Scarborough's meeting with Trump astatine Mar-a-Lago, which the joined mates announced connected their amusement connected Monday.

"I anticipation that we person much conversations. I anticipation we bash an interview," Brzezinski said during a podcast. "So I privation to, you know, instrumentality to the guidelines that we enactment successful place, me, myself, for the interview. I talked to a newsman past night. She was very, precise upset that I did this meeting. And I said, ‘Well, wouldn’t you?’ I mean you enactment for a highly powerful, credible publication. And she said, ‘Well, I would lone spell successful determination if determination were definite guardrails enactment successful place.' There were definite agreed-upon boundaries."

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"Morning Joe" hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough sermon their gathering with President-elect Donald Trump past week. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

She questioned, "how bash you cognize thing astir that?" The MSNBC big noted that the gathering with Trump was connected background, and said she's done her champion to beryllium arsenic transparent arsenic imaginable successful airy of that fact. 

Some reports person stated Scarborough and Brzezinski were motivated to conscionable by fearfulness of retribution by Trump against them owed to their fierce criticisms of him implicit the years, including repeated accusations of Trump being a fascist and authoritarian threat. The show's ratings person suffered successful the days since the announcement. 

The gathering drew mockery from pundits crossed the aisle, with the near saying it was fundamentally a betrayal of their viewers and effectual capitulation to Trump, and the close saying the hosts were admitting their past rhetoric astir Trump was hyperbolic if they were consenting to speech to him. Others defended the gathering arsenic a morganatic journalistic exercise.

Asked astir however she dealt with Trump's criticisms of the brace arsenic co-hosts, Brzezinski explained she was looking astatine however to bash things differently.

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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks astatine a House Republicans Conference gathering astatine the Hyatt Regency connected Capitol Hill connected November 13, 2024, successful Washington, D.C.  (Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images)

"I mean, it’s my occupation to interrogation and speech to radical I disagree with, consciousness threatened by oregon who person wounded my feelings successful immoderate way," she said. "So there’s however I bash it. I bash my job. I mean, bash I truly not spell successful determination due to the fact that helium tweeted astir maine bleeding severely from the look assistance astatine Mar-a-Lago, I don’t know, eight, 9 years ago? I mean, we haven’t talked successful 7 years. 

"And I volition accidental that’s a problem, too. So I’m disquieted astir myself and however I behaviour myself successful this media beingness that we’re in, taking banal of everything that has happened. I don’t regret thing I’ve said during the campaign, and I basal by it. But I’m besides looking astatine however to bash things differently. And I would ne'er crook down an accidental to summation insider information. Never."

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Fellow MSNBC staffers were besides upset by their gathering with the president-elect, arsenic the brace regularly sounded disconnected connected Trump arsenic a menace to democracy. 

Some salient media figures person called for a boycott of the show, which is fashionable with Beltway Democrats and media elites. President Biden is besides known to be a instrumentality of the program and is choky with the co-hosts.

Comedy Central big Jon Stewart mocked MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough aft their gathering with President-elect Donald Trump. (Screenshot/Comedy Central)

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin suggested the MSNBC hosts were being opportunistic and said they kissed Trump's "ring" astatine Mar-a-Lago. "The Daily Show" big Jon Stewart mocked the acme connected Monday arsenic well.

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Scarborough called retired the criticisms of his gathering earlier this week and said determination was a "massive disconnect" betwixt societal media and reality, claiming helium and Brzezinski received a batch of affirmative feedback arsenic well.