âThe Viewâ co-host Sunny Hostin suggested Monday that MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are not true journalists after their recent visit with President-elect Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago.
Trump granted Scarborough and Brzezinskiâs request to privately meet with him at Mar-a-Lago Friday to express concerns about the upcoming administration and policy issues, the âMorning Joeâ co-hosts announced Monday. Hostin said that their reportedly âcordialâ meeting suggests that the co-hosts are willing to âkiss his ringâ rather than be journalists.
âLook, the bottomline is that America needs a free press that is willing to speak truth to power right now, more than ever,â Hostin said. âI think that we have to be very clear eyed when we think about the president-elect and cover the president-elect, and I donât think you need to sit down for 90 minutes at Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring to be able to speak truth and be able to cover a story. So maybe theyâre not journalists in the true sense, maybe theyâre saying theyâre opinion journalists.â
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Brzezinski said that the president-elect appeared âinterestedâ in their conversation and in wanting to find âcommon groundâ with Democrats. The MSNBC hosts said they expressed their desire to ârestart communicationsâ with Trump to address their âdeep concernsâ about his past actions and policy proposals.
âFor those asking why we would go speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, why wouldnât we?â Brzezinski said. âFive years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country, we have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trumpâs actions and words in the course of public debate, but for nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, January 6 were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back the White House with their vote.â
Trump described the meeting with Scarborough and Brzezinski as âextremely cordialâ and expressed his appreciation for their willingness to have âopen communication,â according to Fox News.
During the segment, Hostin further suggested that Trump desires âstate-sponsored mediaâ and for Fox News to be the sole outlet that covers him.
âWe have to remember that Trump is the guy who ushered in the era of fake news,â Hostin said. âHe is the guy who ushered alternative facts. He is the guy who attacked three black female journalists. Heâs the guy who revoked Jim Acostaâs press credentials for asking him a question. And so, I think that this president-elect, I hate to say it, would like nothing more than to have only Fox News cover him, would like nothing more than a state-sponsored media, and I donât think he can be trusted in the way that other presidents can be trusted.â
Hostin pointed to Trumpâs hostile July 31 interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) after ABC News reporter Rachel Scott opened her questioning by accusing him of racism. She further brought up then-CNN White House correspondent Jim Acostaâs press credentials being revoked in November 2018 after he engaged in a heated spat with then-President Trump and blocked a White House internâs arm as he refused to hand the microphone back to her.
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