Watch Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, and outraged Morning Joe guests respond to Trump's tweetstorm


Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were supposed to go on vacation starting Thursday, MSNBC Morning Joe host Willie Geist said on Friday's show, but after President Trump made some personal and ugly comments about the pair, Brzezinski especially, they wrote a biting op-ed in The Washington Post and agreed to come on to respond in person. "I suspect that we do have some new viewers this morning," Geist deadpanned, "so I'll say what anyone who's watched even 5 minutes of this show over the past decade already knows: Mika's smart; she's strong; she makes people in power uncomfortable and she fears absolutely no one."
An hour later, Scarborough and Brzezinski sat down at the anchor desk. The last 24 hours have "been fascinating, and frightening, and really sad for our country," Brzezinski said. "I'm fine — my family brought me up really tough, this is absolutely nothing," she said, "but I am very concerned as to what this once again reveals about the president of the United States."
Scarborough explained how Trump has changed, and lost his sense of humor, over the past year.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Earlier, guest Donny Deutsch was a lot more blunt. "I'm not an employee of NBC so I'm going to go thug here," he said. "Because Mika is a friend of ours. She's a good woman. She's a great mom and he's a pig. He's a vulgar pig." Trump is "physically disgusting to look at — that's what I find ironic about the way he starts to always going after other people's physical attributes," he added. "Enough is enough with this disgusting, vulgar man — and to talk about women that way, and the irony is you physically look like you do, beyond the stupidity of it. You are a pig. You are a bully. And you are doing disgusting things to this country." He acknowledged that he was "taking the low ground here," called Trump "vulgar" and "disgusting" again, then said: "I'm sorry, I probably wont be on the show again." Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Quiz of The Week: 6 – 12 September
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The week’s best photos
In Pictures A palace on fire, a shopping cart protest, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is horse-racing going on strike?
Podcast Plus, will the South Korean women who worked in state-run brothels set up for US soldiers succeed? And what’s behind a surge in leg-lengthening surgery?
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants