Joe Scarborough Defends Trump Meeting, Blames Viewer Backlash on ‘Massive Disconnect Between Social Media and the Real World’

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor “Morning Joe” co-anchor Joe Scarborough, after getting slammed by fans for his recent meeting with President-elect Donald Trump as Mar-a-Lago estate, suggested that critics are confusing social media with “the real world.” On Monday, the longtime MSNBC personality — and frequent target of Trump’s wrath — touched off a firestorm after he and his wife, co-host Mika Brzezinski, revealed on the show that they visited him and at his Florida compound last Friday in an effort to “restart communications,” as Brzezinksi put it. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” Scarborough said about the Trump pow-wow. SEE ALSO: ‘Morning Joe’s’ Scarborough and Brzezinski Visit President-Elect Trump: ‘It’s Time to Do Something Different’ The negative reaction among “Morning Joe” viewers and others was swift — and largely negative.

Among those lambasting Scarborough and Brzezinski was media critic Jeff Jarvis, who in a post on X called their meeting with Trump a “betrayal of their colleagues, democracy and us all” and that it was “a disgusting show of obeisance in advance.” On Tuesday morning’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough claimed he received many kudos for the Trump meeting and said the backlash highlighted how disconnected the sentiment on social media platforms like X are from “the real world.” “Yesterday, I saw for the first time what a massive disconnect there was between social media and the real world because we were flooded with phone calls from people all day, literally around the world, all very positive, very supportive, [who said] ‘I understand what you did…’ etcetera, etcetera,” Scarborough said.