MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

Citing concerns over heightened rhetoric after the assassination attempt on former President Trump, MSNBC pulled its flagship morning show, "Morning Joe," from the air on Monday.

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MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" was conspicuously absent from the airwaves on Monday morning, leaving viewers perplexed and observers questioning the network's decision in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

According to an MSNBC insider, the show's production team was informed by network leadership that all MSNBC programming would be replaced by a single NBC News feed until primetime, effectively benching "Morning Joe." Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were notified and consented.

MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

However, the regular "Today" show on NBC aired as scheduled, raising questions about the rationale behind singling out "Morning Joe." When viewers tuned into MSNBC at 6 a.m. expecting "Morning Joe," they were instead greeted with NBC News special reporting and coverage simulcasting from NBC News Now.

The "Morning Joe" X account announced the show's return on Tuesday. The absence of the show on Monday sparked outrage among its production team and hosts, who were reportedly shocked and upset by the decision.

MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

"A lot of people are pissed off," the insider told Fox News Digital. They added that Scarborough and Brzezinski would have insisted on going on the air if they'd known there wouldn't be a single feed for all platforms, as they'd originally been told.

MSNBC's regular weekend programming and hosts were interrupted in favor of NBC News special coverage of the assassination attempt on Saturday and Sunday. However, after three hours of programming on Monday hosted by Ana Cabrera and NBC News Now, José Diaz-Balart began hosting for MSNBC at 9 a.m., with the "NBC News Special Report" chyron disappearing in favor of "MSNBC Reports." Andrea Mitchell and Chris Jansing resumed their normal shows at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. ET, and Nicolle Wallace took over live coverage of the Republican National Convention at 4 p.m. ET.

MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

CNN reported that a source familiar with the decision cited concerns over inappropriate remarks by guests on "Morning Joe" about the attempt on Trump's life, but an MSNBC spokesman strongly denied this report to Fox News Digital.

A network insider told Fox News Digital that a "Morning Joe" producer had been given assurances on Sunday that the show would not be skipped on Monday, and the hosts were surprised and upset to find their program canceled.

MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

"They were shocked," the insider added. "It was supposed to be one feed like it was this weekend. It was supposed to be one feed with all NBC News platforms. And right now, people that run [the] show are having pretty heated conversations internally about when it went from one feed to two feeds."

An MSNBC spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked about "Morning Joe" staffers being blindsided on Monday.

MSNBC Yanks 'Morning Joe' Off Air Following Assassination Attempt

The decision to pull "Morning Joe" has been met with criticism and raised questions about MSNBC's handling of the aftermath of the assassination attempt.

"How embarrassing that MSNBC had to pull its flagship morning news show off the air when there was a news story," a former NBC News top producer told Fox News Digital.

Critics pointed to the harsh rhetoric that has frequently emanated from "Morning Joe" toward Trump, with whom Scarborough and Brzezinski have a long and complicated relationship.

"The whole ball game changes now, after the attempt on Donald Trump's life that he survived by a millimeter. This kind of rhetoric is unacceptable even by management at places like MSNBC and CNN," said Fox News contributor Joe Concha.

NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham believes that the decision to scrap "Morning Joe" for one day "says so much about how MSNBC sounds on a daily basis."

"Few networks have been more aggressive about calling Trump a fascist or comparing Trump to Hitler than MSNBC. This move could be seen as a tacit admission that their regular content has an overly harsh tone. It certainly clashes badly with President Biden's remarks about how we should all act like friends and neighbors," Graham told Fox News Digital.

Cornell Law professor and media critic William A. Jacobson believes the decision crushes the program's credibility.

"MSNBC's mothballing Morning Joe on what could have been the biggest day in the show's history is humiliating for the hosts and regular guests," Jacobson told Fox News Digital.

DePauw University journalism professor Jeffrey McCall is shocked that MSNBC would preempt "Morning Joe" in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, which coincides with the opening of the GOP convention and the possible naming of Trump's VP pick.

"It really is quite astounding that MSNBC would even temporarily pull the plug on a show that has been the darling of the anti-Trump east coast liberal audience. The MSNBC leadership should consider that if it can't trust Joe and Mika to keep within the guardrails on such a big news day, then why are they allowed to be on the air the rest of the time? This is a huge news day," McCall told Fox News Digital.

OutKick founder Clay Travis said it was the "biggest Monday" in Scarborough's TV career.

"Damn. I'd quit if any of my bosses tried this," Travis wrote on X.

Liberal journalist Jeff Jarvis fumed on X, "What the f---, MSNBC? You preempted your excellent weekend programming… and now you've silenced [Morning Joe] in favor of your anodyne streaming news cos-play called Now?"

Trump was wounded in the ear by a would-be assassin's bullet at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. The shooter killed one attendee and critically wounded two others before being killed by law enforcement. Trump is expected to accept the 2024 Republican nomination for president this week in Milwaukee.