Keith Olbermann: MSNBC, fire "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

The former MSNBC anchor shared his opinions in a column for Variety

By Nardos Haile

Staff Writer

Published December 17, 2024 6:19PM (EST)

Mika Brzezinki and Joe Scarborough speak on stage at the 2018 New Yorker Festival - MSNBC Hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski In Conversation With The New Yorker's David Remni on October 5, 2018 in New York City. (Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
Mika Brzezinki and Joe Scarborough speak on stage at the 2018 New Yorker Festival - MSNBC Hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski In Conversation With The New Yorker's David Remni on October 5, 2018 in New York City. (Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New Yorker)

Keith Olbermann is taking shots at his former MSNBC colleagues, "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

In an opinion piece for Variety, the former top liberal anchor on the channel shared his thoughts about Scarborough and Brzezinski's recent polarizing moves. After Donald Trump's re-election in November, Scarborough and Brzezinski visited the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which received pushback resulting in "Morning Joe's" reportedly plummeting ratings. But the hosts also received criticism from people in the media including Olbermann, who used to lead the show "Countdown with Keith Olbermann."

Olbermann questioned, "What does MSNBC do now?" in his piece. He listed that things have changed including Trump retaking the White House, Comcast intending to spin off the network, and Scarborough and Brzezinski's welcoming of Trump.

He advised the channel, "Stay the course. The audience is exhausted and needs a break. It’ll be back — and Resistier than ever. Suffer the ratings trough."

But he emphasized, "I mean, obviously you have to fire Mr. and Mrs. Scared-Bro. However: Continue their banal but largely benign political coffee klatch show without them and their insistence we all join their MSNVichy. Nobody will remember they were ever there."

To Olbermann, MSNBC needs to learn from Scarborough and Brzezinski's mistakes. He argued that "the next money is coming from more fervent opposition to MAGA, not less." 

He concluded that MSNBC, "may now be the last line of defense for the free press and thus the future of representative government in this country. The bullies don’t stop hitting you because you’re nice to them. They stop hitting you when you knock them out cold."


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