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On Monday, “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski told viewers they met with President-elect Donald Trump last Friday at Mar-a-Lago. On Tuesday, “Morning Joe” saw one of its lowest-rated episodes of the year.

Tuesday’s program averaged just 680,000 viewers, down 38 percent from its 2024 average. The show drew 76,000 in the advertised coveted 25-54 age demographic, a 37 percent decline.

MSNBC was likely bracing for a drop after noticing an ominous trend on Monday. Scarborough and Brzezinski announced their visit with Trump during the 6 a.m. hour, which drew 839,000 viewers. However, during the 7 a.m. hour, that average dropped to 694,000.

 For context, ratings for morning television programs almost always increase by the hour as more Americans wake up. That is true of “Fox & Friends,” “Today,” “GMA,” and, until Monday, “Morning Joe.”

While “Joe” viewers are some of the most misinformed, pompous, and politically intolerant people in this nation, we don’t blame them for turning against the show. Scarborough and Brzezinski spent months warning loyal viewers that Trump would rule with an authoritarian fist, end presidential elections, and impersonate Adolf Hitler. Then, two weeks after Trump wins, Joe and Mika go visit him.

Scarborough and Brzezinski look like frauds. Based on their ratings, their former viewers agree. And one of their own colleagues, a very unpleasant woman named Jennifer Rubin, is now calling for a full-on left-wing boycott.

“Disgusting,” Rubin wrote on the liberal hellscape Bluesky about the meeting. “The market works great. You can stop watching Morning Joe anytime.”

Morning Joe on MSNBC.

We explained this week how “Morning Joe” is uniquely vulnerable to left-wing boycotts. According to Pew Research, just 3 percent of MSNBC viewers vote Republican. So, when ardent liberal viewers turn to the channel, “Joe” cannot readily fill the void with moderate or conservative viewers. 

Despite meeting with Trump, Republican voters are not going to all of a sudden forgive Scarborough and Brzezinski. It wasn’t just Trump they’ve smeared since 2016; it was also his voters.

Put simply, MSNBC should have serious concerns about the future of “Morning Joe,” one of its most expensive programs to produce.

Then again, the executives have concerns about the entire network. Last Tuesday, one week after the election, MSNBC posted its lowest-rated total day viewership since August 7, 2001. It hasn’t gotten any better.

“MSNBC’s prime-time show All In With Chris Hayes also saw one of its lowest-rated episodes in the demo in nearly ten years. Chris Hayes’s program brought in its lowest demo rating since June of 2015 on Tuesday night,” Mediaite reported. “Meanwhile, Nicolle Wallace’s Deadline: White House and Chris Jansing’s daytime news program also struggled in the demo, with the latter seeing its lowest demo rating ever.”

Moreover, parent company Comcast announced on Wednesday that it is moving forward with a plan to spin off NBCUniversal’s cable television networks, which include MSNBC and CNBC.

MSNBC president Rashida Jones and NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus, who will lead the new spin-off company, addressed the news during a staff meeting on Wednesday with senior leaders, producers, anchors, and hosts, including Rachel Maddow, Katy Tur, and Chris Jansing. When asked if MSNBC would have to change its name, logo, and headquarters to distinguish itself from NBC, Lazarus reportedly told staffers that he wasn’t sure.

NBCUniversal would have kept MSNBC under its umbrella, as it did the cable channel Bravo, if the cable news network’s long-term prospects were promising. Evidently, NBCU brass thought otherwise.

Worth noting: The President of the United States will have the final say on whether the spin-off can reach completion. And the deal won’t be complete before February. Perhaps that’s why Scarborough and Brzezinski sought to make good with Trump.

OutKick founder Clay Travis thinks so.

“So MSNBC sends Joe and Mika to bend the knee to Trump on Friday, they tell their audience on Monday about the visit and on Tuesday news officially breaks that Comcast is spinning off MSNBC,” Clay posted on X. “Guess who ultimately decides on all mergers? MSNBC’s erstwhile Hitler — Trump. Too funny. But it all makes sense when you look at the timeline.”

Joe Scarborough isn’t laughing.

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