It is no secret that the cast of MSNBC's Morning Joe are not big fans of Donald Trump. Yet, on Tuesday's edition of the morning show, co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski reluctantly admitted that the President can be quite personable, while also engaging in some revisionist history.
Joe and Mika were joined by former White House aide Cliff Sims, who was on to promote his new book Team of Vipers. Scarborough asked Sims to describe Trump on a personal level, but first Scarborough relayed his personal experiences where he has told people that, "Chances are good if you don't work for him, you're going to go in and be shocked" that Trump can, in fact, be a likeable guy. Brzezinski agreed and joined in by saying that, "This is hard to hear."
Scarborough conceded that even Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, "Would tell you, he's a very engaging, at times likable, guy."
After Sims told a story of the Congressional Black Caucus visiting Trump, he noted the Morning Joe hosts visited Trump Tower, so that Trump could show off what Sims described as "the war room." Clearly remembering the occasion and amused by the memory, Scarborough recalled, "That was a funny moment because, you know you know we were at war with Trump for the entire campaign."
Morning Joe may view themselves as members of the loyal opposition, but this was not always the case. They used to be quite close to Trump. They were so close that the liberal Huffington Post said the show owed the country an apology. Sources within MSNBC told CNN Money that Scarborough's support of Trump was "over the top" and "unseemly." After winning the New Hampshire Primary, Trump himself called into the show and, in perhaps a Fruedian slip, thanked Joe and Mika for being "supporters." The three were also caught on a hot mic, after a televised town hall where the co-hosts praised how well Trump's campaign was going in the early stages of the primary and Trump asking for campaign advice. The town hall Morning Joe did withTrump aired at the same time when CNN hosted a similar event with Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, with a similar event being aired the next day for the other three remaining candidates.
Certainly Trump and Morning Joe have had a falling out, but when they admit that Trump can in fact be a nice guy, it makes one wonder: do they actually believe the things they say about him or do they just want the ratings spike that comes with outrage, a tactic they commonly accuse others of engaging in?
Here is a transcript from the January 29 show
6:34 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I’m curious, let me ask you something about Donald Trump, which of course, the fact I bring this up will enrage a lot of people I’m sure watching the show. But I always have people come up me and say “I’ve got to go and I’ve got to go meet the President. What's he like?” And I say, “Chances are good if you don’t work for him, you’re going to go in and be shocked” because personally he’s, and Mike’s heard this from a lot of people before the campaign…
MIKA BRZENZINSKI: This is hard to hear, people who have been maligned by him and people who feel he’s racist.
SCARBOROUGH: It’s hard to hear this, but even Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton would tell you, he's a very engaging, at times likable guy. I hear he’s horrible to staff. Did you ever see the engaging, likable side of Donald trump?
CLIFF SIMS: No question and there’s a scene in the book where actually The Congressional Black Caucus comes in to meet with him and I think they came in pretty loaded for bear and they get in the room and they found out to your point what almost everybody does which is you just can’t help but like the guy when you spend time with him, he’s a great host a very gregarious- I remember being on the fourteenth floor of Trump Tower when he brought you guys in and he wanted to show you guys the war room there in Trump Tower…
SCARBOROUGH: Right
SIMS: … and all that kind of stuff. It’s just kind of the way, you know he is a great host. And I’ll say even my personal experience…
SCARBOROUGH: Which by the way, that was a funny moment because, you know, we were at war with Trump for the entire campaign but Jared said, “hey, we want you to at least come over and look at the campaign room.” They opened up the door, we walked in and there was an audible gasp, like “Who let the enemies in?”
