Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” says she did not anticipate the severity of the controversy sparked by a meeting she and her co-host and husband Joe Scarborough had with President-elect Trump late last week.

In her first interview since news broke earlier this week of Morning Joe’s visit to Mar-a-Lago, Mika Brzezinski offered insight on her and co-host Joe Scarborough’s meeting with president-elect Donald Trump on .

MSNBC viewers are revolting as viewership for "Morning Joe" has taken a hit after its hosts revealed they had a meeting with President-elect Trump.

The MSNBC anchor team had been so critical of Trump that, in September, Scarborough said that “it’s not a reach” to compare him to Hitler. MSNBC pulled “Morning Joe” from the air the Monday after the assassination attempt on Trump this past summer.

Also on this week’s episode, hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee spoke with attorney Joel Leppard, who is representing two women accusing Matt Gaetz —Trump’s nominee for Attorney General—of paying for “sexual favors.” Gaetz has denied the claims, and the Department of Justice declined to press sex trafficking charges.

UPDATED, with Trump comment: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said that they met with Donald Trump on Friday, in what they described as an effort to restart communications with the president-elect after years of criticism and warning about his rhetoric and potential return to office.

Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough met with President-elect Donald Trump, who has accused Scarborough of murder, and the meeting was met with criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. (Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times/TNS) TNS

Mika Brzezinski has elaborated on her decision to visit Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago alongside husband Joe Scarborough shortly after the 2024 presidential election. Both Brzezinski and Scarborough have strongly criticized the 78-year-old president-elect,