Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinsk appear to be trying to mend broken fences between MSNBC and Fox News. The hosts offered an apology to the conservative outlet on behalf of the network.
Videos by Wide Open Country
This comes after MSNBC commentator David Frum made a joke at Fox News expense when talking about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's drinking. A report showed that Fox News staffers were concerned about Hegseth's drinking.
Frum joked, "If you're too drunk for Fox News, you're very, very drunk indeed." In the next segment, host Mika Brzezinski apologized to Fox News for the remark.
"And before we go to break or a little bit earlier in this block, there was a comment made about Fox News in our coverage about Pete [Hegseth] and the growing number of allegations about his behavior over the years and possible addiction to alcohol or issues with alcohol," she said.
She added, "The comment was a little too flippant for this moment that we're in. We just want to make that comment as well. We want to make that clear."
The Morning Joe host wanted to make it clear that they felt the joke was a bit over the line. She also said, "I just want to say there's a lot of good people that work at Fox News who care about Pete Hegseth, and we want to leave it at that."
Morning Joe Controversy
Following the apology, a very angry Frum blasted MSNBC in a column for The Atlantic. He said that producers warned him to not make any more comments like that.
"At the next ad break, a producer spoke into my ear. He objected to my comments about Fox and warned me not to repeat them. I said something noncommittal and got another round of warning," he wrote. He called it "a startling and shameful shirking of responsibility on a matter of grave national importance. What's the appropriate language to call it out?"
He continued, "It is a very ominous thing if our leading forums for discussion of public affairs are already feeling the chill of intimidation. And responding with efforts to appease."
Meanwhile, Richard Hudock, MSNBC's VP of Communications, spoke about the Morning Joe controversy.
"Joe and Mika have consistently expressed their strong reservations and perspectives regarding Pete Hegseth's nomination from the very beginning. And that stance remains unchanged. We would have responded in the same manner regardless of when these comments were made or what news organization was referenced."
He also continued, "We have great respect for @davidfrum and his contributions; he is a valued member of the @Morning_Joe family. We invite him to join us tomorrow to discuss this topic and other pressing news stories of the day."
