Shortly before the 2008 election, a new morning show debuted on MSNBC. Helmed by former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, “Morning Joe” soon became an unexpected favorite for news junkies.
President Joe Biden – who was campaigning as vice president under Barack Obama during the early days of “Morning Joe” – became one of its loyal viewers. So loyal that Axios published a report this week on the president’s enduring love for the show and its namesake.
“The president often calls co-host Joe Scarborough — a former Republican congressman who’s now a harsh critic of Donald Trump — to get Scarborough’s take on issues and sometimes vent about media coverage, according to people familiar with the relationship,” said the report.
Biden’s favorite time to watch the four-hour long show is from 7 to 7:40 a.m. That’s when White House aides are most often booked. When they are not on the show, aides are often watching it or referencing it.
“During the day, Biden has long asked his staff whether they saw a story, a poll, or a segment that had been on the show,” said Axios. “He’s included show regulars in off-the-record conversations with policy experts.”
These regulars include longtime reporter Mike Barnicle, foreign policy expert Richard Haass and historian Jon Meacham. Vice President Kamala Harris loves the show too, and she recently hosted a dinner for Scarborough and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, who has also been Scarborough’s wife since 2018.
Though they have had a longstanding professional and personal partnership, Scarborough and Brzezinski’s relationship started with some political tension.
“Mika Brzezinski (daughter of former national-security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski) reads the news and acts as a gentle liberal foil to Scarborough,” said New York Magazine in 2008. “There’s a flirtatious, Sam-and-Diane sort of chemistry to their sparrings.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski actually first worked together on his previous show, “Scarborough Country” (she told him that she would rather call her friends than watch it). After Don Imus lost his morning show for hateful comments about women’s college basketball, the former politician made a move to ditch “Scarborough Country” and pitched himself as a morning show host. Though he had originally been positioned by the network as a Bill O’Reilly-style conservative, viewers were surprised to find an even-handed program with a host who pushed back at then-President George W. Bush.
“The thing I hear all the time,” he told New York Magazine in 2008, “when people come up to me on the street, is ‘I love your show,’ and then there’s a hesitancy, and I’ll finish their sentence: ‘And I’m a liberal?’”
Now, more than a decade later, Biden White House, staffers believe that “Morning Joe” is fairer to the Democratic administration than other programs.
According to The Independent, Biden’s likely 2024 presidential election challenger, former President Donald Trump, was once a fan of “Morning Joe” too. However, that love turned sour after the hosts criticized him.
“Morning Joe” is on from 6 to 10 a.m. ET and it also features host Willie Geist. The “Morning Joe” podcast is also available on the Audacy app.