Joe Scarborough Trying to Broker a Meeting Between Zohran Mamdani and ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt

Joe Scarborough revealed Wednesday morning that he is working to arrange a peacemaking meeting between New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

Scarborough shared the news during an on-the-record breakfast with reporters hosted by MS Now President Rebecca Kutler, part of a media tour of the new MS Now studios in the former New York Times building.

When asked how Morning Joe might evolve on MS Now, Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski said the show would largely remain the same, though they expect more freedom to explore new editorial directions. Scarborough then mentioned he has been in communication with Mamdani about joining Greenblatt and Rev. Al Sharpton—another regular Morning Joe guest—for a lunch meeting.

The planned sit-down follows Scarborough’s on-air exchange with Greenblatt earlier Wednesday, during which Greenblatt said Mamdani had publicly vowed he “will not work” with the ADL and pointed to the mayor-elect’s stated support for boycotts of Israel. Greenblatt then looked into the camera and told Jewish New Yorkers: “We have your back, and we will hold Mayor-elect Mamdani accountable.”

Scarborough pushed back, suggesting Greenblatt was “blurring and bending” his criticism of Mamdani, who has been portrayed by some as hostile to Israel amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. Opponents resurfaced many of Mamdani’s past comments about the IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a bruising campaign, weaponizing them to cast him as antisemitic.

A meeting between Mamdani and Greenblatt, brokered by Scarborough, could go a long way toward easing tensions—particularly among Jewish New Yorkers wary of Mamdani’s election. Still, Mamdani’s stance on Israel appeared to have far less influence on the race than his affordability-focused agenda, which drew record turnout.

You can watch the interview here,  a transcript of which is below:;

JOE SCARBOROUGH: We’re all shocked and we all find this abhorrent. And I’m sure that the next mayor would say the same thing, wouldn’t he?

JONATHAN GREENBLATT: You have to ask him.

SCARBOROUGH: I think he has said the same thing. I don’t know, I think you have to. I think you look at the fact that he has gone to one high holiday service after another. He is talking to the Jewish community.

GREENBLATT: That’s not exactly right. He went to anti-Zionist synagogue, which is like going to the black breakout at CPAC and saying you understand African Americans. I mean, come on.

SCARBOROUGH: You’re saying he hasn’t talked to the Jewish community?

GREENBLATT: I don’t know of a mainstream – now, look, he has been to synagogues. He has Jewish people working for him, for sure. Right? But if you look at the biggest institutions that represent Jewish New Yorkers, I have yet to see him engage with any of those. Now, my hope is the mayor-elect will do so in the days and weeks to come. But in the meantime –

SCARBOROUGH: But you’re not suggesting that he supports the firebombing in Colorado?

GREENBLATT: Joe, I never said that!

SCARBOROUGH: No, but you know –

GREENBLATT: Let me be clear –

SCARBOROUGH: No! There’s a lot of blurring and blending here, Jonathan. And, you know, I love you and you’re on all the time. And we’re always a fierce defender of yours. But you seem to be, like, blurring a lot of things together and then looking into that camera and saying: ‘Call us! We’re going to make sure that he doesn’t support the –’

GREENBLATT: I say to Jewish New Yorkers: ‘Call us if you feel unsafe.’ I say to Jewish New Yorkers: ‘Call us if you are harassed.’ And so –

SCARBOROUGH: How about you calling his team? Mamdani’s team? Or how about talking to people who may know him and you? Talk to Reverend Al [Sharpton]. Maybe you guys can get together and have lunch and talk. Isn’t that a more constructive thing to do? Talk right here?

GREENBLATT: That would be great.

SCARBOROUGH: Reverend Al will do it. Come here. Talk right here.

GREENBLATT: But I won’t be – look, like I am willing to have conversations, hard conversations. Because my job is to keep the community safe. But let me be clear: I’m not accusing him of those things. What I want to make sure is he doesn’t create an environment where Jewish people are unsafe. He doesn’t create an environment where global intifada becomes a mantra.

SCARBOROUGH: And if he does, we will be the first, as you know, we’ll be the first to call him out.

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