First Ratings Report Since Trump Visit Brings Dismal News for ‘Morning Joe’

The ratings for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” nosedived after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed that they met with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday.

The meeting at Mar-a-Lago came after the two had called Trump a fascist and a threat to democracy among other derogatory statements over recent years.

Brzezinski began Monday’s program during the 6 a.m. ET hour saying that they had requested some time with the president-elect.

“On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that. Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years,” she recounted.

Scarborough then jumped in saying that they talked about a lot of issues.

“It’s going to come as no surprise to anybody who watches this show, has watched it over the past year or over the past decade, that we didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so,” he said.

Brzezinski then said, “What we did agree on was to restart communications.”

Joe and Mika went to Mar a Lago to talk with Trump over the weekend. First face-to-face meeting in seven years. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” @JoeNBC says. “What we did agree on – was to restart communications,” @morningmika says. pic.twitter.com/lyWZWK4CwX

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 18, 2024

The program’s liberal audience apparently did not like what they heard because viewership dropped off precipitously that day.

Fox News reported, “‘Morning Joe’ averaged 839,000 total viewers during the 6 a.m. ET hour on Monday with 113,000 in the advertiser-coveted demo ages 25-54. In the 7 a.m. ET hour, its total fell to 694,000 and just 70,000 in the key demo.” So that was a 38 percent decline in the key demo from 6 to 7 a.m.

TV RATINGS: MSNBC ratings plummeted after Morning Joe’s hosts announced at 6am yesterday they’d visited Trump over the weekend.

Nielsen ratings show 145,000 viewers turned off MSNBC in the 7am hour, or 38% of the lucrative 25-54 age demo viewers, when audience numbers usually… pic.twitter.com/OtjuEnXQr1

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) November 19, 2024

Fox noted, “The drop-off was the opposite of the year-to-date ‘Morning Joe’ ratings that typically see the audience grow as more Americans wake up.”

The program took a ratings hit Tuesday, as well, averaging only 638,000, with just 81,000 in the key demo during the 6 a.m. hour.

“So far in 2024, ‘Morning Joe’ has averaged a little over one million total viewers during the 6 a.m. hour, compared to 1.1 million starting at 7 a.m. ET,” Fox said.

The New York Post reported that Scarborough and Brzezinski received criticism from all sides of the political spectrum for going to meet Trump.

“A former ‘Morning Joe’ guest who spoke anonymously to The Post said that Scarborough ‘gives opportunism a bad name,’” the news outlet reported.

“He is the hollow man. There is nothing inside him except for a need for success and social status,” the former guest said.

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin argued good journalism did not require Scarborough and Brzezinski to go to Mar-a-Lago and “kiss his ring.”

Sunny Hostin of The View voiced her outrage over MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, holding a meeting with Donald Trump.

“I don’t think you need to sit down for 90 minutes at Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring” pic.twitter.com/mrH8tLG53c

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 18, 2024

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the move by the “Morning Joe” co-hosts was an attempt to boost their sinking ratings.

Let’s be clear, Joe and Mika didn’t suddenly see the light, they saw their ratings. They realized they needed Trump for their survival. pic.twitter.com/NMqNQo60nv

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) November 18, 2024

She posted on X on Monday, “Let’s be clear, Joe and Mika didn’t suddenly see the light, they saw their ratings.”

MSNBC parent company Comcast announced Wednesday it plans to spin off the ratings-challenged cable network as part of a reorganization plan.

Scarborough joked that they “could be fired tomorrow.”

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