It was one year ago that Joe Scarborough and his “Morning Joe” cohost and wife Mika Brzezinski were embroiled in what he now dismisses as a “so-called scandal.” The MSNBC duo visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago following his 2024 election victory, sparking fears that frequent critics of the president-elect were now bending the knee.
“I had to say to the Washington Post, ‘Excuse me, this is a second article you guys have written about me. Your people are going to Mar-a-Lago and talking to him all the time,’” Scarborough told TheWrap. “So that was the preposterousness of it. The only difference between us and what Washington Post and New York Times and CNN and ABC reporters [do] is we were transparent. We actually told people, ‘Hey, we went to talk to the president.’ They didn’t, and for some reason, everybody was shocked and stunned and deeply saddened.”
Scarborough said he last spoke to Trump a month ago, and despite the president’s persistent jabs — “Wow! Joe Scarborough’s Television Ratings are really bad” he recently wrote on Truth Social — the show has booked a number of administration officials, including border czar Tom Homan and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “The interviews have been tough,” Scarborough said. “They’ve been fair, though, and the Trump administration’s continued to send people back.”
For nearly two decades, “Morning Joe” has prided itself as being a daily destination for lawmakers and officials on both sides of the aisle, and a must-watch among the media elite. On Monday, viewers in the White House and beyond will find “Morning Joe” on the newly rebranded MS NOW, part of a corporate split with NBC News that Scarborough, Brzezinski, and their colleagues are welcoming as chance to operate more independently and cohesively, with a growing team of MS NOW-dedicated journalists. Now they have to make sure viewers come along for the ride.
“They can call it whatever they want to call it,” said Scarborough. “MS Now? Personally, I like the name. I mean, you can call it ‘NBA Now’ if you want to, or ‘NFL Now.’ We’re still going to be doing the same show, and our audience is still going to be — when they tune in, they’re going to be tuning into the same channel, and they’re still going to be seeing ‘Morning Joe.’”
But even if the show’s name and the network’s mission are staying the same — as the $20 million marketing campaign goes, “Same Mission. New Name.”) — hosts speak of a vibe shift in being unshackled from NBC. “It does really have the feel of a startup,” Scarborough said.
The “Morning Joe” hosts appear energized to be on air during these turbulent political times, and tamped down speculation they’re planning to step aside anytime soon. Brzezinski revealed during an MSNBC live event in October that the two had begun pondering the end, but the election changed their mind. Now, she told TheWrap, they plan to stay for “as long as they’ll have us, because we really love what we do.”
“We’re a small, scrappy group, and we have stuck together through thick and thin for almost two decades, and we feel so unbelievably blessed to have the honor of being able to work with our ‘Morning Joe’ family and to do this show that Joe created, and I helped,” she said. “I can’t really imagine just walking away from it.”
Brzezinski did admit the two can “get tired,” and Scarborough acknowledged that they’ve faced “challenges” along the way. Still, they say they’ve found the rebrand invigorating. Scarborough last month launched an afternoon newsletter, “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe,” while Brzezinski hopes to expand her “Know Your Value” brand. She is also developing a show with longtime friend and MSNBC contributor Huma Abedin.
“We’re going to try some pilots and see how they work,” Brzezinski said.
Coverage across the aisle
While MS NOW will continue to lean into progressive opinion through stars like Rachel Maddow — hence the “O” in its full name, “My Source for News, Opinion and the World” — hosts are intent on engaging with Republicans.
“Way Too Early” host Ali Vitali, who also serves as a Capitol Hill correspondent, is on air for her 5 a.m. show before sprinting to the Capitol, feeding her reporting into “Morning Joe” the following hour. She’s deeply sourced among Republicans, booking both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune in August.
“The deal that ultimately is what brought the end of the shutdown … is the deal that Thune floated to me publicly first a few weeks ago,” Vitali told TheWrap in an interview, adding that she wants the network to be a home for people of all political parties. “So the fact that we are still very much in the minds of newsmakers, the place that you come to make news, is really important to me as someone who is a reporter’s reporter through and through.”
Jesse Rodriguez, the network’s vice president of editorial and booking, said in a statement that “MS NOW will continue to be the premiere destination for newsmakers and home to the thoughtful analysis and exclusive reporting our audiences are seeking”
“From bookings that reflect the key stories driving the conversation in Washington to the impacts on Americans across the country,” he added, “MS NOW is dedicated to telling those stories and informing our audiences, as we always have.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski also seek to bring Republican voices on air.
Their Palm Beach trip last year signaled a potential thaw in Trump’s relationship with the press, with Trump telling Fox News that he found it “very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press.” But his administration has since tried to restrict the press corps at the White House and Pentagon, as he has sued the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The Trump administration’s treatment of the press, said Brzezinski, “doesn’t change anything about how we do what we do.”
“We do our best to gather the facts, tell the truth and give our take,” she continued. “So it doesn’t change how MS Now does its job, but it’s very concerning what’s happening.”
“No White House is happy with the press coverage they get,” Scarborough added. “I wish the White House would have a more open relationship with the media, but it’s very antagonistic right now.”
Though it remains to be seen what the audience response to the network’s rebrand will be — executives have realistic expectations for ratings, particularly as the brand shifts during the holiday months — the network’s hosts seem to feel confident in its future. Whatever the channel is called.
“[Viewers] want to hear from the family,” Scarborough said, name-checking co-hosts Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire.
“It’s a dinner party every morning,” Brzezinski said. “It’s a fabulous dinner party.”
