Morning Joe Gets Tense as Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Bicker Over His Constant Interruptions, 25th Amendment
The set of Morning Joe got a bit tense as Joe Scarborough repeatedly interrupted co-host Mika Brzezinski, and then returned from an 8 a.m. top-of-the-hour break to mock his wife’s apparent obsession with the 25th Amendment.
Longtime viewers of the influential cable news morning show have watched the relationship between Scarborough and Brzezinski evolve over time. They also know that Joe, Willie Geist, Mike Barnacle, and Jonathan Lemire love to embark on long tangents focused on Major League Baseball, a tradition that annoys Mika — and no doubt viewers — which seems to only encourage the giggling cut-ups more.
In one such conversation Friday morning, Scarborough was kibitzing with Geist about Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, laughing perhaps a little too hard at his own joke, which Brzezinski tried to wrap and cut to break.
Mika sat patiently as the boys would be boys, and tried to wrest control with “Okay, bye-bye you all,” to which Scarborough interrupted with “very, very good.”
Invoking Sen. Kamala Harris’ comment at Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, Mika said “Just excuse me, excuse me, I’m speaking,” with what can be fairly described as a forced smile. But that didn’t keep Joe from interrupting again (which has been his wont of late) to which an exasperated Brzezinski said, “You really are going to interrupt me?”
All of this could be chalked up to jokey tension, the type that most cable news programs rely on for ratings. Coming back from the break, however, Scarborough appeared to address the previous segment. Unfortunately for show producers, the top of the 8 AM hour often repeats some version of the show open that aired at 6 AM, so it appeared as though Joe was addressing the tete-a-tete from the end of the 7 AM hour. It was an unfortunate circumstance.
Scarborough followed Mika’s intro with “So Willie, you know, Mika and I, we have rules before we come on this show. I’m not allowed to talk about baseball for long periods of time.” After a “lost decade in Turkey” joke that went nowhere, Joe revealed, “I have not allowed her to utter the phrase 25th Amendment, you know, because every morning she has wanted to utter 25th Amendment.”
Brzezinski interjected with “Been right all along,” to which Scarborough continued “and I say, ‘Honey, you can’t say that every day,’ and she says, ‘Honey, I can if I feel like it.'” It is fair to say that that exchange was not shared with much joy. It was the sort of passive-aggressive bickering with which every married couple is all too familiar. For better or worse, Scarborough and Brzezinski’s marriage is on full view for loyal Morning Joe viewers each and every day.
Long time fans of the show are familiar with the changing dynamic between this couple over the past few years. In the Trump era, Scarborough is known for impassioned rants against President Donald Trump, bolstered in potency thanks to his time as a Republican congressman from Northwest Florida. Brzezinski seems to be far more troubled by Trump, which she expresses with audible off-camera sighs and empathetic pleas for change.
Ratings remain high, but one can’t help but wonder if the show was better when the relationship between its hosts was not yet public. I’m reminded that television shows are always at their best when there is tension between two lead characters who have not yet connected. Think Pam and Jim from The Office, Sam and Diane from Cheers, Niles and Daphne on Frasier, or, if you’re really freaky, George Michael and Maeby from Arrested Development.
Since Joe and Mika came out as a couple and eventually got married, the dynamic has been different. Maybe that’s just this viewer’s impression and the natural course for a couple who lives together and works together for the world to see. But, for the show, the bickering isn’t great.
Editor’s note: the post has been edited slightly since posting to correct the chronology of comments.
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