Morning Joe is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MS NOW. It features former US Representative (Independent) Joe Scarborough reporting and discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski (whom Scarborough married in November 2018), Willie Geist, who regularly co-hosts from Tuesdays to Fridays, and Jonathan Lemire, along with recurring and special guests.
History
Morning Joe began as a fill-in program after Don Imus' Imus in the Morning was canceled in April 2007. Former Florida Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, then host of the primetime MSNBC program Scarborough Country, suggested the idea of doing a morning show instead. He put together what would become Morning Joe with Scarborough Country executive producer Chris Licht and screenwriter John Ridley. The pun in the show's title is echoed by a coffee ring in its logo. On April 16, 2007 (Imus' show aired until April 11, 2007, on MSNBC), the show debuted as one of a series of rotating programs auditioning for Imus's former slot, with Scarborough joined by co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Ridley. Scarborough had personally asked Brzezinski to co-host with him the night before the first audition, while she was a "cut-in" presenter during MSNBC's primetime schedule on a freelance basis.
Ridley quickly dropped out as main co-host but continued as a regular guest, while Willie Geist was tapped as co-host. The program permanently took over the slot in July 2007, though the decision was not officially announced until October that year.
During the first quarter of 2009, Morning Joe earned higher ratings in the age 25-54 demo category than CNN's competing program, American Morning, but had fewer viewers overall. Both programs finished behind Fox News's Fox & Friends during the same time period.
By March 2010, the show's ratings remained behind those of Fox & Friends, but surpassed its other cable competitors American Morning, Morning Express with Robin Meade, and Squawk Box. Morning Joe continued to regularly place second in total viewers and younger demographic to Fox & Friends, ahead of other cable news competitors including CNN's New Day. However, Morning Joe ranked behind CNN's counterpart programming during short stints in 2013.
Over the years, the program's focus has shifted partly toward enterprise journalism: Scarborough and Brzezinski provide exclusives from the United States Congress, the US State Department, and the White House.
On May 4, 2017, an MSNBC spokesperson confirmed that Scarborough and Brzezinski were engaged to be married.
Their style in running the show was then parodied by Saturday Night Live with Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat.
In May 2017, for the first time in the program's history, Morning Joe attracted an average of over 1 million daily total viewers for the month.
In February 2022, MSNBC announced that the show would be extended with a fourth, 9 a.m. hour beginning April 4. The extension replaced Stephanie Ruhle Reports, after Stephanie Ruhle moved to MSNBC's late-night program The 11th Hour to succeed Brian Williams.
On July 15, 2024, Morning Joe was preempted and replaced by Morning News Now from NBC News Now in order to provide extended coverage of the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. CNN reported that the preemption was due to concerns from network staff over the possibility that a panelist or guest could make insensitive comments regarding the shooting. The show returned to air on July 16.
In December 2024, it was announced that Way Too Early host Jonathan Lemire would move to the 9 a.m. hour of Morning Joe as a panelist in January 2025, with Ali Vitali succeeding him as host of Way Too Early.
On March 18, 2026, it was announced that starting in June, the show would go back to three hours instead of four, with Lemire moving to co-host the 8 a.m. hour.
Spinoffs
WABC radio edition
A radio version debuted in December 2008, carried on WABC in New York City (which was also carrying Imus in the Morning at the time) and other Citadel Media owned and operated stations. Scarborough and Brzezinski hosted this version, called The Joe Scarborough Show, which also replayed highlights from that day's "Morning Joe" television show. Scarborough attested that, at least on WABC, the show beat the Glenn Beck Program in the New York City radio market's Arbitron ratings. Despite acceptable ratings, however, the radio version was put on hiatus in April 2010. Scarborough voiced an intention to bring back the show in a revised three-hour version at an undisclosed time in the future.
Way Too Early
On July 27, 2009, Willie Geist began hosting a new 30-minute show, Way Too Early. It aired on MSNBC at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time as a lead-in to Morning Joe. Geist left the program in October 2012 when he began co-hosting the third hour of NBC's Today. He is currently a co-host of Morning Joe. The program was revived in September 2020 with Kasie Hunt who left 10 months later for CNN. From October 2021 to December 2024, the program was hosted by Jonathan Lemire, until he moved to Morning Joe's 9 a.m. hour. Since January 6, 2025, the program has been hosted by Ali Vitali.
Morning Joe First Look
On August 8, 2016, the existing early morning program First Look airing at 5:00 a.m. was expanded into the former timeslot of Way Too Early and retitled Morning Joe First Look, retaining segments from the latter program and presumably to feature some continuity with Morning Joe itself.
Morning Joe: Weekend
On February 11, 2023, MSNBC began to regularly air Morning Joe: Weekend, a recap of the show's most notable moments from the week's broadcasts. The shows has been broadcast every Saturday morning from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time. The show was later expanded to both Saturdays and Sundays.
Joe Scarborough Presents
On April 17, 2023, MSNBC announced that Joe Scarborough would host a primetime special titled Joe Scarborough Presents on April 24, 2023, temporarily taking over the 8 p.m. hour of All In with Chris Hayes, where Scarborough interviewed U.S. President Joe Biden, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
On May 8, 2023, Scarborough hosted another primetime special. He interviewed U.S. Senator John Fetterman, Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry.
On July 17, 2023, Scarborough hosted a third special, interviewing Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Robert Downey Jr.
Regular guests and contributors
Regular guests and contributors include:
Mike Barnicle, freelance columnist.
David Rohde MS NOW National Security Affairs Editor
Tina Brown, publisher of The Daily Beast.
David Campbell, in-house doctor.
Donny Deutsch, CEO of the advertising/marketing firm Deutsch, Inc. and CNBC/MS NOW contributor.
Mara Gay, journalist and member of The New York Times editorial board.
Eddie Glaude, former chair of the Center for African-American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University.
Richard N. Haass, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
John Heilemann, MS NOW political analyst, co-managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, and co-author of the presidential-campaign histories Game Change and Double Down.
David Ignatius, Washington Post journalist.
Elise Jordan, MSNBC political analyst and host of MSNBC's The Weekend: Primetime.
Katty Kay, former anchor of BBC World News America.
Ari Melber, chief legal correspondent, and host of MS NOW's The Beat with Ari Melber.
Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, co-host of PBS television news magazine Need to Know, and former editor of Newsweek.
Jen Psaki, former White House Press Secretary and host of MS NOW's The Briefing with Jen Psaki.
Steve Rattner, Morning Joe economic analyst.
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post editorial columnist.
Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MS NOW's PoliticsNation.
Jake Sherman, journalist, writer, co-founder of Punchbowl News.
Sam Stein, Huffington Post correspondent.
James Stavridis, retired United States Navy admiral and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, co-host of MS NOW's The Weeknight.
Nicolle Wallace, MS NOW political analyst/anchor, host of MS NOW's Deadline: White House and former White House Communications Director for George W. Bush.
Past contributors and segments
Peter Baker, New York Times columnist.
Louis Burgdorf, former Morning Joe correspondent and producer
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter and the father of co-host Mika Brzezinski
Pat Buchanan, past co-host of CNN's Crossfire and MSNBC's Buchanan and Press. A former presidential candidate and an on-air personality beginning in 2002, Buchanan was suspended by MSNBC in October 2011, following the publication of his book Suicide of a Superpower due to alleged racist slurs, specifically in its chapter titled "The End of White America". Four months later, MSNBC severed its relationship with Buchanan.
Tom Brokaw, NBC News special correspondent and former NBC Nightly News anchor
Erin Burnett, CNN and past CNBC anchor. In her role as anchor on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, Burnett regularly contributed as the correspondent during the daily 8:30am "Business Before the Bell" segment. She left CNBC for an anchor position at CNN in May 2011. Scarborough habitually introduced Burnett with the nickname "International Superstar".
Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post editorial page writer and host of MS NOW's The Saturday Show and The Sunday Show.