By Ray Cardello for November 18, 2024, Season 29 / Post 50

I was shocked to hear this morning that President-Elect Donald Trump had invited Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of Morning Joe to meet face-to-face with him at Mar-A-Lago last Friday. This was the first time the three had met in seven years, but to listen to Mika as she and Joe opened their show on Monday morning, this time-lapse was unusual. Listening to Mika and Joe, I sensed that they thought of themselves on the same plane as Trump and just as relevant. Trump is the President-Elect of the United States, and Joe and Mika are hosts of a morning show on a declining media outlet. The pair should have been gracious and noted that Trump gave them some of his valuable time in the spirit of reuniting a fractured country. To say these two have been rude and disrespectful to Donald Trump is an understatement, and for him to allow them private time shows how magnanimous he is and how serious he is about being the President of all Americans.

Joe spoke about the topics discussed, like abortion and mass deportation, that the two sides did not agree on. Again, this was not a debate or negotiation between a President and a colleague. This meeting was a conversation between a man who had been attacked and slandered by these two talking heads and every other employee at MSNBC. Joe and Mika should swallow their pride and self-importance and appreciate the opportunity to meet with the former and future President.

I have observed that network personalities and even sports announcers are narcissistic and believe their accounts are as important as the people, actions, and events they report on. This fault prevents these reporters from being objective as they need to inject their influence into the reporting instead of sticking to the facts. They can give their slant if they are opinion reporters or writers, but you are obligated to the truth if you are part of the news department. That distinction is lost on the people of CNN and MSNBC, which is why the heads of these two organizations have put their teams on notice of massive staff reductions on the horizon.

As Joe continued analyzing the meeting, certain words flew around the studio. Joe used the words “fraught, extreme, radical, and dangerous” to describe his feelings and Trump. Joe kept referring to the election as a 50-50 split, a perfect example of twisting the truth. Trump won 50-47% and garnered nearly six million more votes than Harris. The Electoral College was a landslide, showing the mandate the American people have given Trump. Biden was given a chance by the voters to put America on a better path. The 2024 vote shows how disappointed they were in Biden and want Trump to retake the reigns. Joe, Mika, and all of the Trump deniers that staff the legacy media need to acknowledge the will of the people and, rather than predict a doomsday for America, observe the transfer of power and report on the results of the Trump administration. That is their job, or they may find themselves part of the group asked to leave their posts.