Staffers at left-leaning MSNBC are fuming at network brass for yanking “Morning Joe” off the air this week, accusing two top executives of “coddling” Donald Trump to curry favor with the former president.
“There’s a level of disgust in the company I haven’t seen before” aimed at NBCU News Group chairman Cesar Conde and MSNBC president Rashida Jones over the decision to sideline Joe Scarborough and his co-host wife Mika Brzezinski on Monday, an insider told the Wrap.
The decision following Saturday’s failed assassination attempt to bench the two was a “clearly deliberate coddling of Trump and his allies” as well as an attempt at “currying favor with the Trump camp,” the source added.
At least two other people with knowledge of the situation agreed with the assessment, saying the top executives at the Comcast-owned broadcasting outlet appear resigned to the inevitability of a second Trump presidency in light of recent polling showing him soundly defeating President Biden.
The Post has sought comment from MSNBC.
An MSNBC spokesperson told the Wrap that “programming decisions were made entirely by the News Group” — a division headed by Conde within NBCUniversal which consists of NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC News Now, Telemundo and local stations.
According to the network, the decision was made to replace regularly scheduled programming on all platforms with continuing breaking news coverage in the aftermath of the assassination attempt.
Another insider defended the move to sideline “Morning Joe,” saying it was a “straightforward news decision.”
According to a CNN report, MSNBC management made the decision to keep Scarborough, Brzezinski and the regular panel of Democrat-friendly commentators off the air on Monday due to fears that they would say something inappropriate.
An NBCUniversal spokesperson denied that report.
“Given the gravity and complexity of this unfolding story, NBC News, NBC News NOW and MSNBC have remained in rolling breaking news coverage since Saturday evening,” the rep told The Post on Monday.
Scarborough criticized management when he and his cohorts returned to MSNBC’s air on Tuesday morning — when he issued an implied threat to resign if the scenario recurs in the future.
“Next time we’re told there’s going to be a news feed replacing us, we will be in our chairs,” Scarborough said Tuesday.
“And the news feed will be us or they can get somebody else to host this show.”
The former Republican congressman from Florida said he was “very disappointed” in the move to bump his show — an emotion that is shared by many at the network, according to the Wrap.
On Thursday, Scarborough, who is often watched by Biden, all but called on the aging president to drop his re-election campaign amid his apparent cognitive decline and tanking poll numbers.
