Stacy Brown: ‘Morning Joe’ hosts rekindle ties with Trump

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week, rekindling a relationship strained for several years. While they defended the meeting as an effort to reestablish communication with the president-elect, critics have called it a glaring example of White privilege, mainly as Trump’s return to power is the proverbial knee on the necks of marginalized communities. Neo-Nazis marching through Columbus, Ohio, hurling racial slurs, and the toxic rhetoric earlier this month at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, filled with racist comments, illustrate the consequences of his leadership. Brzezinski addressed the backlash Monday morning, explaining the meeting by invoking her father’s legacy. “What we did agree on was to restart communications,” she said. “My father [former Jimmy Carter national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski] often spoke with world leaders with whom he and the United States profoundly disagreed. That is a task shared by reporters and commentators alike.” Scarborough added that conversations with Democratic leaders influenced their decision. “A lot of Democratic leaders we have talked to this past week since the election have told Mika and me, it’s time for a new approach,” he said, assuring viewers that they would continue to hold...