Former GOP president exposes MSNBC drama with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski over meeting with Trump: ‘You can’t do that’

Former lawmaker and MSNBC analyst David Jolly appeared to take a jab at MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Friday as he talked about how Democrats should move forward.

“We didn’t wake up after the election and think I’m upset because I was wrong. We are upset because we know we are right, but we are on the losing side of this battle. And what does this mean for a responsible media, for a responsible electorate, for a responsible Democratic Party in this environment?” started Jolly. “Don’t just say we’re going to give Donald Trump equality, which some people are doing in the Democratic Party, in the media, among the electorate.”

Brzezinski and Scarborough revealed to viewers that the pair met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks following his victory.

Scarborough and Brzezinski said during the show that it was time to start engaging with Trump.

“But for nearly 80 million Americans, the denial of the election, the public trials, January 6, were not as important as the issues that led them to return Donald Trump to the White House with their vote. Joe and I understand that it’s time to do something different, and that starts not only by talking about Donald Trump, but with him,” Brzezinski said.

Brzezinski and Scarborough have been some of Trump’s biggest critics in the media in recent years. Trump said after the meeting that it went well.

Brzezinski said she was surprised by the reaction to their meeting during a podcast interview.

“I’ve been surprised by the backlash, and the way I look at it is, people are really scared,” she said on The Daily Beast Podcast. “It’s one of the reasons we went there, is that people are really scared by Donald Trump’s comments about political opponents, a lot of people are scared because of what’s happened with abortion. These are all issues that are important to me and in a way personal to me, but definitely personal to the people I really care about.”

Jolly encouraged Democrats to “double down” on holding Trump accountable.

“The only answer is to redouble the responsibility of Donald Trump and his allies and redouble efforts to present a democracy that represents all people, even in a losing environment,” he said.