Joe Scarborough on Thursday brushed off rumors that he and his “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski were “aggressively angling” to replace David Gregory as the hosts of NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
Page Six reported Wednesday, citing anonymous NBC sources, that Gregory may be replaced as the moderator of the long-running Sunday show soon after the midterm elections. The tabloid reported that Scarborough and Brzezinski had been jockeying for the Sunday slot, and The Daily Beast also ran its own anonymously sourced item stating that the MSNBC co-hosts had been “aggressively angling for the job in the event of Gregory’s all-but-certain demise.”
Some NBC insiders expressed concern about Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, taking the helm of the ostensibly nonpartisan Sunday show, according to the Page Six report.
Scarborough denied on Twitter that he and Brzezinski were “aggressively angling” for the job:
There have been numerous stories with NBC News sources saying that Mika and I have been “aggressively angling” for MTP. That is false.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) July 24, 2014
Ratings for “Meet The Press” have been flagging recently, apparently prompting NBC to bring in branding and marketing consultants to work with Gregory to try to turn things around. An NBC spokesperson told Page Six to take the “false rumors” about Gregory “with a grain of salt, as we did.”