Cable News Clips

Scarborough, meanwhile, said sources had told him Trump may approach his second term differently given he can’t run for president again.

“Somebody close to Donald Trump told me this past weekend, this is a president who is not seeking re-election, so maybe, just maybe now could be time for both parties to get to work,” Scarborough said.

The backlash against the ​TV pair was swift on social media – with many blasting the duo for their “shamelessness” and for “bending the knee” by arranging the face-to-face.

“Hitler getting a lot more meeting requests than I would’ve thought,” Republican strategist Scott Jennings wrote on X, referring to the co-hosts’ past attacks on Trump in comparing him to the Nazi leader.

Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York tweeted, “Annals of shamelessness: They call Trump a fascist, and much, much more, and then, just 22 days after his ‘Nazi-like’ rally, they fly to Florida for an audience.”

Eli Lake, a Free Press columnist, added​, “Why would Trump bother talking to these people other than to urge them to seek mental health counseling?”

Some critics said Scarborough and Brezinski were just trying to salvage their careers.“Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski didn’t go to Mar-a-Lago to achieve unity with Trump. They went because their network is down 50% viewership and is on the verge of being sold — so they went and kissed the ring,” an X user wrote.

In a bid to get ahead of the backlash, Scarborough had said during his monologue that the co-hosts — who have previously accused the Republican of being a threat to democracy — weren’t trying to “defend or normalize” Trump.