MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had only made the media stronger, pointing to his own show's "record ratings."
The antagonistic relationship between the Trump administration and the media was a leading topic on "Morning Joe."
Panelist Mark Halperin ripped into White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders for blasting "fake news" in a lengthy, anti-media diatribe a day earlier, calling it a low point.
Scarborough said the White House's stance against the press was "short-sighted," claiming polls showed Americans trust news outlets more than Trump.
"Donald Trump is only making the media stronger," Scarborough said. "We have record ratings for us at Morning Joe ... subscription increases at the New York Times, Washington Post ... Everyone is actually getting more viewers by holding them accountable."
Panelist Mike Barnicle agreed the strategy was short-sighted, but he also said the Trump team was "fairly successful" at running down the press.
"It's a 36 percent strategy. It's a losing strategy," Scarborough said.
MSNBC and the rest of the cable news channels have seen vastly increased ratings overall at the outset of the Trump administration, bucking the trend for cable news viewership to decline the year after a presidential election.
