Scarborough Seizes on Fox, Kelly, Carlson to Hit Trump on Iran

On Thursday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough eagerly enlisted conservative voices—from Fox to Megyn Kelly to even Tucker Carlson—to do his anti-Trump dirty work.

File it under: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The segment began with Mika Brzezinski playing a clip of Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones arguing Trump has yet to achieve his stated objectives in Iran.

“We have not reached any of those objectives,” Jones asserted, noting that Iran continues enriching uranium, refusing intrusive inspections, and advancing its missile program.

Scarborough seized on the clip, portraying it as representative of broader concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Brzezinski then introduced a lengthy clip of Megyn Kelly delivering a bleep-filled tirade against Trump’s social media posts on Iran.

Amid widespread criticism of Trump’s use of an f-bomb in his Truth Social post on Iran, Kelly—ironically—delivered a profanity-laced rant of her own.

Scarborough then underscored just how eager he was to amplify the criticism, approvingly citing not only Kelly but Tucker Carlson as voices Trump supposedly “listens to.”

Yes—Tucker Carlson. A figure long treated by liberal media as beyond the pale suddenly became a credible authority the moment he criticized Trump, just like Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

“Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson…came out and just said, Mr. President…you don’t say this,” Scarborough said, lamenting that Republican leaders hadn’t followed suit.

Having assembled his hand-picked chorus of conservative critics, Scarborough used it to advance a familiar media narrative: that Trump is losing his base. Never mind polls showing that Trump voters overwhelmingly support the war with Iran. 

Citing unnamed friends and family, Scarborough claimed Trump supporters are now “exhausted” and less likely to turn out in 2026.

In other words, a few selectively curated clips—from figures the liberal media typically derides—were suddenly repurposed as proof of a broader political collapse.

For Scarborough, conservative voices are credible—so long as they’re criticizing Trump.

Here's the transcript.

MS NOW
Morning Joe
4/9/26
6:50 am EDT

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Ten minutes before the top of the hour. We're seeing some interesting reactions in conservative media to President Trump's handling of the war with Iran. 

Here's Fox and Friends co-host Lawrence Jones acknowledging that Trump has so far not been able to achieve any of his demands. 

LAWRENCE JONES: That the president's demands, we have not reached any of those objectives. I have full confidence that the president is going to find some way to make this happen. But he said that we want to dismantle all major nuclear facilities, that has not happened. 

The end of uranium enrichment on the soil, they're still enriching. The transfer of the enriched uranium stockpiles out of Iran, that hasn't happened. 

The acceptance of intrusive international inspections, they're still not willing to do that. And they have not suspended their ballistic missiles program. They're still firing them off. To stop the production of the long-range missiles. 

That's just a few of them on the president's proposal. 

JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, he actually, what he got to actually, is what, at the end of the day, I think most people that would support this war, the easiest thing to go along with and to agree to is, we can't have a nuclear Iran. Six presidents have said that. 

So, I think what was important about what you just heard on Fox & Friends there was, again, a focus on the nuclear facilities, on the nuclear enrichment. On the inspections he talked about. And for our allies in the region, they're the most concerned about Iran's ability to launch long-range missiles. 

So that is a message I think the president's probably hearing from a lot of Republicans. 

MIKA: And then there's this. Earlier in the week, Megyn Kelly harshly criticized President Trump's social media posts on Iran. 

MEGYN KELLY: I mean, I don't know about you, but I am sick of this . I'm just, I'm sick of it. Can't he just behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly, like the president, all right, "3D chess," just shut up. 

[Bleeped, apparently "F---ing"] shut up about that [bleeped, apparently "s---"] You don't threaten to wipe out an entire civilization. We're talking about civilians. This is wrong. It's wrong. He should not be doing it. I don't care that it's a negotiation. His negotiation tactic is to kill an entire country full of civilians, men, women, children? An American president? So that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened? 

It's just wrong. It's not hard to say it. It's not hard to recognize it. I wish he would stop doing this. Like, he can't negotiate without doing this? What does that say about him? What does that say about the the position that our country is in right now in these negotiations. He's got to say this? 

He can't be a dignified, strong leader without threatening a bunch of war crimes? 

SCARBOROUGH: A couple things that are very important for people that watch this show that may never listen to MAGA media or conservative media, however you want to define it. 

The first is, that I think it was very important that people that the president listened to, like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, came out and just said, Mr. President, we've supported you. Tucker Carlson campaigned for the president. But he said, you don't say this. These are the sort of things you don't say.

Which, yes, it seems obvious. 

MIKA: Right, but the Republicans don't seem to be able to do it --

SCARBOROUGH: [Ignoring and talking over Mika] Those are two of the only voices really out saying it. The fact that every Republican senator didn't come out and say the same exact thing. Maybe more diplomatically, I don't know. 

MIKA: Starting with the post on Easter Sunday? 

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, the post on Easter Sunday. 

MIKA: And then the civilization post? You don't have a take on that? 

SCARBOROUGH: [Ignores Mika, continues] The fact that Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson said it, but Republicans that run the Senate didn't say it, Republicans that run the House didn't say it, it's terrible. And again, this will all be written down in history. No one will be able to escape history. They just won't. So that's my thing. 

I think another thing that's very important from what Megyn Kelly said is, it reminds me of so many of my friends and family members who voted for Donald Trump three times, many of whom still support Donald Trump, who will volunteer to me: yes, I voted for him three times. Yes, I would still vote for him instead of voting for any Democrat. But they said, but why does he have to say things like that? 

It exhausts them. And in exhausting them, I think you're seeing, again, a lot of people who were very enthusiastic to vote for Donald Trump in '16, '20, and '24 losing some of that enthusiasm right now. And they're not going to come out in '26, most likely, and vote for Republicans. 

So what she said is echoed by so many rank-and-file Republicans that I know that, that again, are friends and members of my family who, who will say that.