"Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said President Donald Trump's decision to accept an unprecedented face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was an effort to distract from the story about his alleged prior relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
After being invited to meet by the young dictator via South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, Trump accepted on Thursday night. According to Chung, Kim has offered to put the nuclear and missile programs on the table.
The announced summit was praised as "historic" by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, although the question now is whether North Korea will act deceptively as it has in the past and simply use the meeting to gain much-desired international legitimacy.
On the set of MSNBC's morning show, the hosting duo believed the announcement was to get the news about Daniels—also known as Stephanie Clifford—and her lawsuit over a non-disclosure agreement concerning a reported prior sexual relationship with Trump, off the front page.
"Is this a deflection ... from Stormy?" Brzezinski asked.
"Of course it's a deflection," Scarborough said.
Scarborough compared it to Trump's hasty announcement of tariffs last week during a tumultuous period of news for the administration. Co-host Willie Geist said it's unclear whether the planned meeting would actually come to pass or if it was part of a larger negotiation over the rogue regime's nuclear weapons.
"Or again, a distraction to change the headlines from Stormy Daniels, which was yesterday, to North Korea today," Scarborough said.
"That's exactly what it is," Brzezinski said.
Scarborough said he feared a "very bad deal" coming, likening it to the Iran nuclear deal desperately desired by the Obama administration.
"He makes a decision on North Korea because of Stormy Daniels, and people can deny that all they want, but if you're doing that, you're in the tank for Donald Trump, because it is painfully obvious that's exactly what's going on," Scarborough said.
"This is his pattern," Brzezinski said.
Scarborough held up a copy of the Washington Post, saying Trump didn't want the words "Stormy Daniels" on the front page, and he had succeeded.