‘That’s the level of disaster they created’: What happened to ‘Morning Joe?’

A controversial Mar-a-Lago meeting has sent Morning Joe, MSNBC’s flagship morning show, into a ratings spiral. The quick reaction from the channel’s faithful audience has been so drastic that it threatens the future of one of cable news’ most influential programs.

Morning Joe’s hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski built their reputations as fierce critics of Donald Trump. They positioned themselves as stalwart defenders of democracy against what they portrayed as authoritarian tendencies. For years, they tirelessly advocated for Democrat Kamala Harris while warning viewers about the dangers of a second Trump presidency. That’s why the hosts’ sudden decision to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shattered this carefully crafted image. The response was swift and severe when they announced the meeting on their November 20, 2024, broadcast, with angry fans taking to social media to criticize the move.

The impact on viewership was immediate and devastating. The show’s audience plummeted from 770,000 viewers on the announcement day to 680,000 the next day, further declining to 647,000 by Wednesday. This represented a dramatic fall from their yearly average of 1.09 million viewers. “They need FEMA there at this point—that’s the level of disaster they created,” a rival network executive told media reporter Oliver Darcy, likening the show’s crisis to a catastrophe requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency – the government organization that leads federal response to major disasters like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.

Morning Joe is paying the price of compromise

Behind the scenes, sources revealed to CNN’s Brian Stelter that Scarborough and Brzezinski’s decision stemmed from fears of potential governmental and legal harassment from the incoming Trump administration. This suggests their meeting wasn’t merely about journalistic access but self-preservation. Instead of excusing the host’s behaviors, the news only fueled fans’ feeling that Morning Joe hosts have sold out their integrity.

It’s not only the audience who was disgruntled by their decision. Within the network’s ranks, some staff members described the meeting as “cowardice” and “disgusting but frankly unsurprising.” Frank Sesno, former CNN Washington bureau chief and current professor at George Washington University, highlighted the fundamental contradiction: “They have portrayed themselves as bastions of integrity standing up to a would-be dictator. What the followers see is the daily procession of people on the show constantly talking about the evils of Donald Trump, and then Joe and Mika show up and have high tea with the guy”.

To make matters worse, Scarborough and Brzezinski have spoken about Fox News on Morning Joe in what viewers considered an apologetic tone. The controversial move only cemented the idea that the hosts and their program would bend further towards the Trump regime, betraying their ideals. Things didn’t stop there, as Scarborough had a live meltdown about Morning Joe’s dropping ratings, delivering a condescending rant about how he must keep a good relationship with Trump to illuminate the audience’s ignorant members about the truth.

The controversy hits MSNBC at a particularly vulnerable moment. Parent company Comcast announced plans to spin off most of NBCUniversal’s cable channel lineup into SpinCo, forcing networks like MSNBC to contemplate building their newsgathering operations from scratch. As Morning Joe keeps grappling with its identity crisis, MSNBC’s morning show might get scrapped by the company, all due to its hosts’ inability to cater to the audiences they took years to build.