The 'Morning Joe' Meeting With Donald Trump Has Met Some Pretty Major Blowback

On Monday, Nov. 18, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced that they had visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago the previous week. The news was a shock to many, in part because Joe and Mika have been two of the most outspoken Trump critics in the media for the past decade.

The news that they had decided to meet with him and apparently mend their relationship led some to wonder what their rationale was for taking the meeting in the first place. Here's what we know about how they wound up meeting with the once and future president.

During the Nov. 18 show, Mika said that they had agreed to reopen communications with Trump.

“For those asking why we would speak to the President-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn’t we?’” Mika said during the show.

While on the air they seemed to suggest that talking with the future president was a no-brainer, CNN has reported that the decision was a little more fraught behind the scenes.

Apparently, Mika and Joe were concerned that they could face "governmental and legal harassment" from the incoming administration. Knowing that Trump has gone after people he sees as his opponents in the media and that he has spread lies about Mika and Joe in the past, the hosts decided to take a meeting with him in the hopes of avoiding meeting a similar fate.

CNN also reported that opinion was split inside MSNBC about whether Mika and Joe had made the right move. Some believed that access to the president-elect was justification in and of itself, while others suggested that it might be a sign of capitulation to a leader to has been known to seek retribution against anyone he perceives to be an enemy. Morning Joe might not be quite so critical of Trump this time around.

One of the reasons some are expressing concern over Joe and Mika's meeting and subsequent reporting that it was held in part out of fear is that "anticipatory obedience" is one way potential autocrats bend potential opponents to their will. The simple fear of retribution is often enough to prompt people to fall in line, even if they don't agree with whatever the leader is doing.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump reminded Joe and Mika what he thinks of them.

"They made it sound like we had a summit," he wrote on the platform. "The truth is, Joe begged to meet with me after our Big Win, and when I finally agreed, he approached me like a scolded dog. He should consider himself lucky that I didn't have him thrown out of beautiful Mar-a-lago. Mika was charming, as usual."

Clearly, then, their relationship isn't totally mended, even if that was the goal. It remains to be seen exactly what Morning Joe's tact toward the second Trump administration will look like.