https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/donald-trump-on-ban--ob… Now, in the wake of Trump’s election, “Morning Joe” is becoming a go-to spot for Trump watchers. | GettyThe on-again, off-again relationship between Donald Trump and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is on again.

It was vintage Trump. “Mika, Mark Halperin and I understand the resentment from some who were blind to the realities that shaped the 2016 election,” Scarborough said. That was the first time we spoke in a long time and that probably made it easier for us to start talking later on.” Indeed, many members of Trump’s inner circle, including his influential son-in-law, Jared Kushner, stayed in close contact with the show in the campaign’s final weeks. Scarborough also says he did not vote for Trump in the primary or general election. "Morning Joe" cohosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are now in regular communication with Donald Trump and his circle. Now, in the wake of Trump’s election, “Morning Joe” is becoming a go-to spot for Trump watchers. They were wrong.” By August, however, the fruitful relationship, which led to many on-air interviews of Trump, was faltering.

Things turned south when trump froze them out but coverage always stilted. He notes that he has called Trump’s proposals and comments disqualifying, racist and unconstitutional, while comparing some of his rhetoric and proposals to those of Nazi Germany.

The cohosts are now in regular communication with Trump and his circle — so much so that they are fielding criticism for being a house organ for the incoming administration. Not everyone finds that advice-giving relationship appropriate, even for a morning-show host who bills himself as an analyst rather than a reporter and is a former Republican member of Congress. Scarborough has also given Trump personal advice, boasting at a panel in February that during a visit with Trump, he had urged him to read before debates. In his Le Show podcast, he released audio of off-camera dialogue between Donald Trump and ostensible news figures Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of the MSNBC program Morning Joe. “We spoke regularly to Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod in the Obama White House, and we have always maintained good relations with congressional leaders and Cabinet secretaries.

Most of them watch the show and call us if they have an issue they want to discuss.” Ultimately, Scarborough said, the reason Trump still talks to him, and the reason he, Brzezinski and Halperin have faced so much criticism is that he and his crew recognized Trump’s path forward when others didn’t. Scarborough, in an interview, declared that he and Brzezinski talk several times a week with Trump himself. Once considered must-watch TV for the Acela corridor, “Morning Joe” was in danger of falling off the rails as the 2016 election loomed ahead.The buzz around “Morning Joe” — which prided itself on being the place that congressional chiefs of staff and top political reporters would tune in to see what was driving the day — had quieted, as had ratings for all of MSNBC. And it’s been competitive with CNN’s morning shows even when its parent network lagged far behind CNN in overall viewers. “We're just as blunt in person as we are on TV, whether we happened to be critical on the show that particular day or not.”It counts as something of a comeback for the venerable morning talk show, which made its debut in 2007. In February, CNN “With Trump, only those most willing to essentially, if unofficially, join the team themselves will get continued, dependable access,” Sullivan wrote To be sure, the “Morning Joe” cohosts and Halperin are not nearly as big boosters of Trump as Hannity, who at But Scarborough claims his behind-the-scenes conversations with major players at high levels of government are “nothing new,” pointing to similar relationships in Democratic administrations. In November, “Morning Joe” led CNN in its time slot in total viewers (806,000 people to CNN’s 715,000), while CNN’s “New Day” beat it among the age 25-54 demographic that advertisers crave (251,000 viewers to 207,000). “Even somebody like a morning show host plays a role, at least a quasi-journalistic role — I’d argue it’s journalistic — in setting the parameters of the national conversation around these candidates,” Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik said on CNN in February. Scarborough and Brzezinski angered the candidate by calling his campaign “undisciplined” and saying he “had no idea” what he was saying. “We had a nice personal conversation on the phone and he just said none of this [politics] matters.