Secrets of How ‘Morning Joe’ Snatched Back Its Mojo

Morning Joe reasserted its political importance on Monday with interviews with two of Kamala Harris’ potential vice president contenders and adversaries.

This punchy return to form came a week after the hosts of the show were benched following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and the subsequent threat by its hosts—Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski—to quit if such a thing ever happened again.

The next day, Scarborough told viewers of the preceding day’s decision by MSNBC to air rolling news instead: “The news feed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show.”

Andy Beshear and Roy Cooper Audition Live to Be Harris’ VPALL IN

Jake Lahut, Martha Mercer

Seven days on, the message of Morning Joe Monday was very much “We're back—and the place to go for powerful Democrats to make their case.” The network has been in constant touch with Harris’ office, an MSNBC insider told The Daily Beast, though it’s unclear when an interview may take place. MSNBC declined to comment for this article.

Monday’s episode played host to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, two reported vice-presidential short-listers who have endorsed Harris. An MSNBC insider told The Daily Beast that the network reached out to top Democrats just after Biden’s announcement, and the bookings came together within hours before they were announced last night.

The VP auditions are set to continue on Tuesday, as the show hosts other reported VP contenders Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The program seems set to help Harris determine who will join her on the ticket ahead of next month’s Democratic National Convention.

The MSNBC show has hosted an explosion of news-making moments since the June 27 debate that tanked President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski teetered between urging Biden to either drop out or steadfastly remain in the race.

Biden himself called into Morning Joe earlier this month, telling Scarborough and Brzezinski he’d remain in the race in an effort to quell national lawmakers’ unrest after a flurry of them called for his withdrawal during the July 4 weekend.

“The bottom line here is that we are not going anywhere,” Biden said. “I am not going anywhere.”

His persistence didn’t sit well with lawmakers, most especially Speaker Emirata Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Pelosi had already sought to appear on the July 10 edition of Morning Joe to coincide with her July 9 Washington Post op-ed with Belarusian Democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, but she instead used her pre-scheduled appearance to question Biden’s decision.

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told the program, despite Biden’s then-resolute decision. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.” The statement caught the hosts—and the network—off guard, according to the MSNBC source. According to Politico, the moment reignited the fervor in Congress that helped prompt leaks of Biden’s meetings with top Democratic leadership, including Pelosi, where they urged him to consider stepping aside.

The show has also played host to Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), the thorn in many Democrats’ side.

However, the network has always had Morning Joe’s back, even as it continued to produce news.

MSNBC leadership preempted the program last Monday in favor of a simulcast of NBC News NOW’s breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt, reportedly over fears Scarborough and Brzezinksi, or one of their guests, would say something flippant.

The move to air a streaming show’s production caught the hosts off guard and prompted fears internally that the network’s parent company, Comcast, was trying to curry favor with a second Trump administration. MSNBC did not comment on the matter—and, for now anyway, the show has successfully pivoted back to being the most influential early-morning arena for liberal powerbrokers to speak to their base.