Why Is Joe Scarborough Not on 'Morning Joe'?

Why is Joe Scarborough not on Morning Joe? That’s the question viewers are once again asking after the MSNBC host failed to return to the weekday program in July of 2024. Joe is absent at a moment when the political conversation has become particularly fraught, and Morning Joe is a regular part of many people's morning routines, including possibly the president's.

Given all of that context, it's understandable that fans would want to better understand exactly where Joe is, and why he's been absent from the show. Here's what we know.

While Joe has been absent from the show, we don't actually know why. He has not addressed his absence on social media, and his co-host Mika Brzezinski has not addressed where he might be. Given that the two have been married for six years, it seems likely that Mika would know where Joe is, and it also seems likely that Joe would have taken Mika on any vacation that he might be on.

Willie Geist has been co-hosting in Joe's stead during his absence, and it's unclear when Joe might be back on the show. Whatever pulled him away, it's likely a personal matter, and it could be as simple as him having a desire for some rest over the summer. Whatever the case may be, though, Joe's absence comes at what is a critical moment in the political discourse that Morning Joe is a part of.

Mika and Joe are reportedly close to the Biden White House, and Mika opened her first show of July without Joe with a lengthy defense of the current president, who is facing calls to leave the race following a disastrous performance in the first debate against Donald Trump.

In her remarks, Mika said that Joe Biden has been knocked down and gotten back up numerous times over the course of his career, and could do so again.

“I still believe in Joe Biden,” she said. “I’ve learned that counting him out is always a mistake and doing that now could be catastrophic for our country.”

Mika then questioned the president's intense schedule before the debate, which included two trips to Europe and one to Los Angeles before he arrived on the East Coast for the debate.

“It makes me angry that he was moving across the world on four different time zones,” the host said. “It seems to me this is a lack of discipline.”

On Twitter, Joe echoed her comments, saying that he too thought there was time for Joe to come back from the debate.

"Mika is also correct that Joe Biden’s life has been defined time and time again by picking himself up off the ground after being knocked down politically and personally. And yes. He could do it again," he wrote.

Joe's Twitter feed has been silent since, so we'll see where the former Congressman has been when he returns to his role. Until then, there are plenty of other cable shows discussing whether Biden should drop out.