Former Republican lawmaker and MSNBC analyst David Jolly voiced sharp criticism on Friday, appearing to target MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski over their decision to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Jolly’s remarks came during a discussion about how Democrats should respond to Trump’s recent election victory.

Jolly began by addressing what he sees as a failure to confront Trump and his allies head-on. “We didn’t wake up after the election and think, I’m upset because I was wrong. We’re upset because we know we’re right, but we’re on the losing side of this battle,” Jolly said. “And so what does that mean for a responsible media, for a responsible electorate, for a responsible Democratic Party in this environment?”

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He warned against treating Trump with undue legitimacy, saying, “Don’t just say we’re going to give equity to Donald Trump, which some people are doing in the Democratic Party, in media, among the electorate.”

Jolly’s remarks appeared to reference Scarborough and Brzezinski’s admission that they met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks following his election win.

The “Morning Joe” hosts said during their broadcast that it was time to engage directly with Trump and his supporters.

“For nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, January 6, were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote,” Brzezinski said. “Joe and I realize it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him.”

Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski reveal they traveled to Mar-a-Lago to “meet personally” with President-elect Trump in order to “restart communications” and set a “new approach” to their coverage of his administration. pic.twitter.com/zNKOpgTz9N

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) November 18, 2024

Scarborough and Brzezinski have been vocal critics of Trump in recent years, but their meeting drew backlash from both media figures and Democratic allies.

Jolly firmly rejected the idea of meeting with Trump, saying such actions undermine efforts to hold him accountable. “No, that’s absolutely wrong. You can’t do that. Forgive me for saying this. You can’t go to Mar-a-Lago. You can’t do it. That’s going to get me in trouble. You can’t do that,” Jolly said.

“You have to hold Donald Trump accountable for being wrong. You have to hold all of his allies accountable for being wrong, even if that means you’re in a losing environment and you’re threatening your own liberty and your own security as an American,” he added.

Brzezinski addressed the backlash during a podcast interview, expressing surprise at the criticism.

“I’ve been surprised at the backlash, and the way I look at it is, people are really scared,” she said on The Daily Beast Podcast.

She explained that the decision to meet with Trump was motivated by concern over key issues.

“It’s one of the reasons we went in there, is people are really scared about Donald Trump’s comments about political adversaries, a lot of people are scared because of what has happened with abortion. These are all issues that are important to me and in some ways personal to me, but definitely personal to the people I really care about.”

Jolly concluded his remarks by urging Democrats to maintain pressure on Trump and his allies. “The only answer is to double down in holding Donald Trump and his allies accountable and double down on trying to present a democracy that represents all people, even in a losing environment,” he said.

David Jolly who wants 50% of the country to be held accountable for being wrong in their choice of Donald Trump. Oh, and he also took a cheap shot at morning Joe. On the cheep shot at Morning Joe I agree because if you’re going to be calling somebody Hitler, I recommend you don’t… pic.twitter.com/nSwyq7OeBI

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) December 1, 2024

As Trump prepares to take office again, debates over how Democrats and the media should approach his administration remain a divisive issue.

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