‘Morning Joe’ Responds To Comcast Selling MSNBC: ‘We Could Be Fired Tomorrow’

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts found themselves in an awkward position on Wednesday morning, jokingly addressing recent reports that the network might be up for sale.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Comcast is allegedly preparing to separate its portfolio of NBC Universal-owned cable channels, including MSNBC, from its core business.

“Comcast is expected to announce Wednesday that it is moving forward with a plan to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks,” the Journal’s Amol Sharma wrote, citing sources familiar with the matter. Sharma noted, “The company, which last month said it was studying the idea, will separate off entertainment and news channels including MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, and Golf Channel. Those assets generated about $7 billion in revenue in the 12 months ended Sept. 30.”

After Mika Brzezinski reported the news matter-of-factly, Joe Scarborough chimed in with a light-hearted remark referencing his co-host and wife. “I will say really quickly on this, you know, Drudge at the top said, like, ‘News melts down!’ all this other stuff,” Scarborough commented, alluding to the Drudge Report’s dramatic headlines.

“I mean, I could be completely wrong: we could all be fired a year from now. When this happens, you never know what’s going to happen,” he added.

Brzezinski quipped back, “Or tomorrow,” attempting to laugh it off, though her tone suggested unease about the show’s uncertain future.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump offered new insights into a recent 90-minute post-election meeting he had with the Morning Joe hosts at Mar-a-Lago, marking their first encounter in seven years.

Discussing the meeting on their program Monday, Brzezinski described it as a chance to re-establish dialogue. “On Friday, we were given the opportunity” to speak with Trump, she announced. “Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years.”

Scarborough elaborated, stating that the discussion touched on “a lot of issues including abortion, mass deportation, threats of political retribution against political opponents and media outlets,” indirectly referring to critics like Rachel Maddow, who has previously speculated on extreme scenarios under Trump’s leadership.

While the meeting highlighted ideological differences, Brzezinski emphasized a shared commitment to improved communication. “What we did agree on was to restart communications,” she noted.

She also explained the rationale behind their visit: “We had not spoken to President Trump since March of 2016 other than a personal call Joe made to President Trump on the morning after the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. In this meeting, he was cheerful, he was upbeat, he seemed… interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues. And for those asking why we would go speak with the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, why wouldn’t we?”

“Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country,” she continued. “We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s words and actions in the coarsening of public debate. But for nearly eighty million Americans, election denialism, public trials, and January 6th were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote.”

“Joe and I realize it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump but talking with him,” she concluded.

In a response on Monday, Trump told Fox News that having a “free, fair and open media” is essential to “Make America Great Again.” He added, “I feel I have an obligation to the American people to work with the press, even those who have treated me badly beyond comprehension.”

During the interview, Trump reiterated his goals for the nation, describing efforts to transform the United States into “the greatest and most powerful country in the world.”

“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press,” Trump remarked before discussing the meeting. “I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such a meeting took place. We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning at 8:00.”

Trump described the exchange as “extremely cordial,” noting, “Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication. In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”

He added that Scarborough and Brzezinski “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books,’ which I really believe it was, but it was also a campaign where I worked long and hard — perhaps longer and harder than any presidential candidate in history.”