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."
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.