An awkward moment between MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, her co-host and husband, was caught live on air on Monday, September 25. Scarborough, in an intense rant about social media influencers and their role against mainstream media, shocked his wife after using a bit of foul language during the "Morning Joe" talk show.
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Scarborough, visibly fed up with influencers and other commentators online, seemed to connect in a very deep way to the Axios CEO Jim VandeHei speech given at the National Press Club. Scarborough's intense rant began after congratulation VendeHei, who joined the show after winning the Fourth Estate award.
"And like you said, this is what gets me," Scarborough began. "If someone pops off on Twitter, or some other social media, and they lie, they make mistakes - you know what the cost of that is? Nothing. They do it again."
It was then that Scarborough dropped the bomb. "In fact, it helps them because algorithms are rigged, so you stir up sh**," he said. Well, that escalated quickly! As soon as Scarborough said that, Brzezinski gasped and could be seen saying "Oh!." Meanwhile, Scarborough continued his rant, unmoved by his elegant use of French.
"The more you can get people angry, the more followers you get, but also now it is monetized to help you," he continued. He later said: "At some point, people have to want to know the truth, and if they don't want to know the truth, well, then go ahead and walk around ignorant."
All the while, Brzezinski attempted to get Scarborough to stop talking, unsuccessfully. Eventually, the show was over, as well as Scarborough's rant.
VandeHei's Speech
VendeHei's speech was given at the National Press Club on Thursday, November 21. In it, he exalted the role of traditional media and criticized the role of social media platforms and influencers. He particularly took a jab at Elon Musk.
"Everything we do is under fire. Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day or X today saying like, 'We are the media. You are the media,'" said Vandehei. "My message to Elon Musk is: Bullsh**!"
"You're not the media, you having a blue checkmark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn't make you a reporter any more than me looking at your head, and seeing that you have a brain and telling you to have an awesome set of tools makes me a damn neurosurgeon, right?" Vandehei continued.
It seems that Vandehei's speech pulled the strings of Scarborough's heart. Let's just hope that, should this happen again, Joe does not end up "bleeping" himself as he did on Monday.
