Trump's Twitter tantrum helped Morning Joe smash its viewership record

Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist.
(Image credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

President Trump inadvertently gave Morning Joe's ratings a boost when he lashed out last week at the hosts of the "poorly rated" MSNBC show. The Nielsen company reported Wednesday that a record 1.66 million people tuned in to Morning Joe on Friday, beating the show's previous viewership record set the day after Trump won the presidential election.

Even Trump tuned into Morning Joe for the "first time in [a] long time" Friday, which he admitted in a tweet disparaging the "low rated" show. Trump had claimed Thursday morning in his tweets — in which he called co-host Mika Brzezinski "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and claimed she was "bleeding badly from a face-lift" when she was at Mar-a-Lago late last year — that he didn't "watch anymore."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us