MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday excoriated President Donald Trump's family members for disrespecting the chain of command in the White House and failing to be a positive influence on the president.
The "Morning Joe" co-hosts took issue with Ivanka Trump tweeting Monday that she is "looking forward to serving alongside John Kelly," who was sworn in that day as the new White House chief of staff, rather than under him. They said that Kelly would have to fundamentally restructure how the White House operates in order to rein in Trump's family, who they consider unqualified to serve in senior administration roles.
"I can't even imagine ever saying, 'I'm going to work alongside John Kelly' with no actual qualifications," Scarborough said, referring to Ivanka Trump's tweet.
Brzezinski also targeted Ivanka Trump, as well as Jared Kushner, for being ineffective in the White House.
"If you've been the Trump whisperer or the moderating force, you've been terrible at it," she said. "I mean, it's been a failure for six months, so own it."
"There is no Trump whisperer," Scarborough added, interrupting Brzezinski.
Ivanka Trump serves as an adviser to the president while Kushner serves as a White House senior adviser.
Axios' Jim VandeHei said that this structure fits Trump's style, which Scarborough said is part of the problem.
"It is not fine to have a structure where you let family members wander around your chief of staff and guide policy," Scarborough said.
"You will not, in the office, work alongside the chief of staff, or you will cause your father to fail," Scarborough added. "If you want Donald Trump to succeed, you will get out of the way and you will let the chief of staff do the chief of staff's job. You report to the chief of staff, the chief of staff reports to his boss: Donald Trump."
Both Scarborough and Brzezinski made similar comments on Twitter on Tuesday, criticizing Trump's family and calling for "professionals" to take charge in the White House.
It's time for Donald Trump's family members to get out of the way and let professionals run the White House. Actually, it is way past time.
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) August 1, 2017
Family members who want Donald Trump to succeed need to let his Chief of Staff do his job.
They need to get out of the way.— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 1, 2017