MSNBC Host Left Upset, Claims 'They Can Get Somebody Else' After ‘Morning Joe' Cancellation Drama

Following the assassination attempt on presidential candidate Donald Trump, MSNBC decided to yank their show off the air on Monday. Reports surfaced that the network sidelined both hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that day due to concerns they might make insensitive remarks about Saturday's attack, according to The Daily Beast. However, this move drew immense criticism from popular host Scarborough, who publicly slammed the network during Tuesday's Morning Joe broadcast. Scarborough unleashed his fury on MSNBC and NBC executives for the abrupt cancellation.

Scarborough, clearly upset, disclosed the initial reason he was given, which reportedly proved to be untrue. He said, "I just wanted to briefly talk to our friends and viewers that watch us every day and talk about what happened yesterday." The host continued, “We were told, in no uncertain terms on Sunday evening that there was going to be one news feed across all NBC news channels yesterday, and today’s show would be Lester Holt. That did not happen. We don’t know why that didn’t happen. Our team was not given a good answer as to why that didn’t happen."

As reported by The Guardian, Scarborough further said, “And I guess after there was such a strong blowback about it yesterday morning… they changed their plans. And so those plans changed as well. We’ve talked about it off the air. We’ll talk about it on the air because we talk about everything on the air. We were very surprised. We were very disappointed.” Scarborough continued, “Next time we’re told there’s going to be a newsfeed replacing us, we will be in our chairs. The news feed will be us or they can get somebody else to host the show.” The sentiment was described by multiple sources as intense frustration, and NBC News Group's President, Cesar Conde, was also singled out.

One MSNBC staffer said, “There is a level of disappointment and disillusion in our leadership in a way that is unlike anything before." Another source said, “The buck stops with Cesar. When you decide you want to own a news division—these are journalists. They’re truth seekers, they’re there to tell the story and they’ll tell the story about their own company.” Several other sources also pointed fingers at Conde, who took the leadership of the NBC News Group in 2020. Some individuals felt that Conde's unfamiliarity with journalism may have contributed to decisions like this one.

Another source familiar with the situation pointed out that the Morning Joe hosts often see themselves as more important than the network. The source said, “Ultimately, [leadership is] not beholden to the talent. They’re beholden to their talent, their affiliates, and their bosses.” Some also wondered if this was decided by the parent companies to appeal a possible Trump administration, especially since Trump's allies have been criticizing the network constantly. One employee said, “There’s no world in which any of this makes sense unless Comcast is attempting to curry favor."