MS NOW/SnapStream After President Trump’s address on Thursday, MS NOW’s Morning Joe showed disdain for the speech and praised the decision from some broadcast networks, ABC and NBC, not to take the speech live. While CBS did air the speech, co-host Mika Brzezinski commended their fact-checking-heavy coverage, which she said was the result of anchor Tony Dokoupil being “kicked around a bit.”At the lead of the show, fellow co-host Joe Scarborough made his speech commentary about Russia, as Scarborough sarcastically read through newly released unclassified intelligence about possible election interference.Co-host Willie Geist had his own Russia-related commentary from the speech: “To hear the president of the United States deliver Vladimir Putin's talking points from the East Room of the White House in prime time was shocking.” After President Trump's address, Morning Joe praised the broadcast networks' coverage of the speech, including decisions by ABC and NBC not to broadcast the speech live and CBS's fact-checking, which Brzezinski said was the result of Tony Dokoupil "being kicked around a bit." pic.twitter.com/fJppW6gTKW— Nick (@nspin310) July 17, 2026 Near the end of the opening conversation on the address, Brzezinski stated, “And then a lot of networks chose not to cover it. And, if I understand correctly, CBS, because Tony Dokoupil has been kicked around a bit, they did an extensive fact check on the speech, pointing out disinformation.”If Brzezinski were to actually watch CBS News, she would know it was not pro-Trump TV all of a sudden, as claimed by many liberals.She concluded, “I think the media in some ways did its job here.”Geist, also the host of NBC’s Sunday Today, praised and defended the broadcast networks' decisions: “I mean, there's not an obligation on the part of the press to platform just bald-faced lies and amplify them to tens and millions of people in this country.”Geist continued and said, “There was a decision made at several networks not to show this stuff because we heard it all before. We know it's lies.”Later, he praised his other employer, Versant’s MS NOW, for their coverage and its cut away from the speech: “So, and you know, MS NOW and others, they dipped into it and then came out as soon as the lies started and debunked all of it.”After his media commentary, Geist turned to the SAVE Act, and said the speech “is a predicate for what he wants to do.”He continued and said without passage of the SAVE Act, he fearmongered, “he may find other ways to influence the outcome of the 2026 election on the platform, on the foundation of these lies he told last night.”As the midterms approach, Morning Joe’s election fearmongering seemed poised to be the lead until November.The transcript is below. Click "expand":MS NOW’s Morning JoeJuly 17, 20266:01:11 AM Eastern(...)JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, Willie, here's the thing: he didn't prove what he wanted to prove, right? He didn't prove anything about China. He didn't prove anything about that we didn't already know before. He spread a lot of disinformation. But the president – I am grateful, and I think America should be grateful for the president getting some of these documents out. If you don't mind. I'm just going to read from a couple of them right now. "The Russian government has advanced such narratives with U.S. officials and other persons as well, online. These figures are conspiring. These Russian government figures are conspiring to intensify their efforts as the election approaches to orchestrate a high-profile corruption scandal implicating Joe Biden and the Democratic Party at the peak of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Their aim is to defeat the former vice president and ensure the president's victory.”And here's the crazy thing, Willie, and I guess this is a very, very Russian thing to do. And the Russians have done it. And so, if you're one of these influencers that have been infected by sort of these Russian conspiracy theories, you're going to do it too. Are you ready for this? Russian actors – this is shocking that anybody would do this. And I guess it's just East versus West. We don't think the way they do. It's shocking they would do this. Russian actors have circulated narratives. I almost can't read this.MIKA BRZEZINSKI: It’s shocking.SCARBOROUGH: I almost can't - BRZEZINSKI: Well, you can do it! SCARBOROUGH: - Because it's so foreign!BRZEZINSKI: Come on. You can do it.SCARBOROUGH: And they were doing this in the United States, honey!BRZEZINSKI: Oh. Don’t - SCARBOROUGH: Going to spit out my Wheat Chex! Let me try it again, Willie. BRZEZINSKI: [Inaudible]SCARBOROUGH: Russian actors have circulated narratives about voter fraud resulting from mail-in balloting and called some U.S. primary voting processes, quote, rigged by the Democratic Party. So, this Russian idea of talking about rigged elections. It infected the 2020 campaign. Willie, the one that Donald Trump was running. It's crazy, isn't it, that anybody would use that Russian sort of talking point, that propaganda point about, quote, “rigged elections.”WILLIE GEIST: To hear the president of the United States deliver Vladimir Putin's talking points from the East Room of the White House in prime time was shocking.SCARBOROUGH: Yes!(...)6:18:55 AM EasternBRZEZINSKI: And then a lot of networks chose not to cover it. And if I understand correctly, CBS, because Tony Dokoupil has been kicked around a bit, they did an extensive fact check on the speech, pointing out disinformation. I think the media in some ways did its job here.GEIST: Yeah, I think that's right. Mika. I mean, there's not an obligation on the part of the press to platform just bald-faced lies and amplify them to tens and millions of people in this country. NBC did not take it live. ABC did not take it live. And before Trump supporters throw their outrage, there were speeches, primetime speeches by President Biden and President Obama that the networks decided they didn't need to take live either. There's a precedent for this.But there was a decision made at several networks not to show this stuff, because we heard it all before. We know it's lies. The other approach was the one you touched on, which was CBS before and after gave long, kind of takedowns of what the president said. Even I will say Fox News came out of it, and Sean Hannity was hosting. He was not thrilled by the speech. I think low energy and let's move along was kind of the theme of the night, a quick wrap-up of it -BREZEZINSKI: Yes. Avoid, avoid. GEIST: Not sort of fanning the flames of the claims. Let's turn the corner and get to some other stories. So, and you know, our MS NOW and others, they dipped into it and then came out as soon as the lies started and debunked all of it. And even streaming platforms at NBC News did, did kind of the same thing there. So, yeah, I think that there was a decision made that we're not going to stand by or we're not going to participate in this further campaign by the president to lead up to something else, Sam Stein, which he kind of gave away at the end of the speech, which is here are all these claims that, by the way, are not true, but I'm going to put them out there anyway. And why am I giving this speech in prime time? Because of what I just said: Now we must pass the SAVE Act. So, this is pretext. This is a predicate for what he wants to do. He's been stymied a bit in the Senate.They say they're not going to pass the SAVE Act. So he may find other ways to influence the outcome of the 2026 election on the platform, on the foundation of these lies he told last night.(...)