Charles Joseph Scarborough (/ˈskɑːrbʌroʊ/; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host and former politician who is the co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist.

[5] During this time, he wrote music and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, including the album Calling on Robert E. Lee,[6] and he also coached football and taught high school.

During his first year of law school, Scarborough wrote a musical about televangelists called "The Gospel According to Esther" which premiered at the University of Alabama to positive reviews.

[15] Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing other counsel from the many who offered their services, however, and helped shield the family from the media exposure, pro bono.

In the general election, Scarborough defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vince "Vinnie" Whibbs, Jr., with 61 percent of the vote.

The New Federalists called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to "privatize, localize, consolidate, [or] eliminate"[23] the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development.

[9][34] Scarborough also teamed up with civil rights leaders in a controversial effort to rename a historic Pensacola street after Martin Luther King, Jr.

[citation needed] In 1996, Scarborough spoke at the John Birch Society’s Council Dinner in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.

"[53] Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley wrote in his book on Katrina, The Great Deluge, that “Joe Scarborough was keenly attuned to the devastation along the Gulf Coast...and his diagnosis of the failures was right on the mark.

It features Joe Scarborough providing both enterprise reporting and discussion on the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist.

The New York Times said it was "unlike anything else on morning television"[59] and American Journalism Review said the show "set the agenda for the day's news".

[60] In 2007, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Geist, Brzezinski, MSNBC president Phil Griffin, and Scarborough to cut the ribbon on the new set of Morning Joe at 30 Rock.

According to Nielsen ratings in 2016, Morning Joe delivered MSNBC's biggest ever total viewer and demo audiences for that time period and beat third-place CNN in both categories.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post in August 2016, Scarborough argued that the Republican Party must "dump Donald Trump" as their presidential candidate.

At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens.

[71][72][73] The hosts responded with an op-ed in The Washington Post, in which they described White House officials telling them that the president would kill a pending National Enquirer article if they apologized to Trump for their coverage of him.

[74]  The president's tweets received criticism from many Republican lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Lindsey Graham, and Lisa Murkowski.

On July 20, 2001, while Scarborough was in Washington, D.C.,[77][78][79] one of his aides, 28 years old, Lori Bolterstein Klausutis, was found dead on the floor of his congressional office in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

[80][81] An autopsy determined that an undiagnosed heart-valve irregularity had caused the 28-year-old to lose consciousness, fall, and hit her head on the edge of a desk the day before.

[90] That same day, Twitter began fact-checking Trump's posts and applying warnings to his tweets when they made misleading claims about mail-in voting.

[92] In August 2019, Scarborough drew criticism after posting conspiracy-driven tweets about the death of Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier multimillionaire and convicted sex offender.

[93] Scarborough tweeted: "A guy who had information that would have destroyed rich and powerful men's lives ends up dead in his jail cell.

Scarborough released his first book, Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day: the Real Deal on how Politicians, Bureaucrats, and other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America,[96] on October 4, 2005.

[98] On November 24, 2020, Scarborough released his fourth book, Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization.

TIME noted his fearless approach to speaking his mind "without fear or favor" and his dedication to placing "country before party" making him an essential voice in American politics.

[106] The Monday after the attempted assassination of Trump, MSNBC preempted Morning Joe for the day, prompting threats from Scarborough to quit if the network took similar action again.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that “at a time when TV news feels like it is fading into irrelevance with the broader public, with a certain group of extremely important and influential viewers (or even one viewer in particular), it appears to be more essential than ever.”[108] In 2022, Scarborough, Brzezinski, and Willie Geist were named Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media, with Mediaite praising Morning Joe’s “remarkable broadcasting prowess and chemistry.”[109] In 2023, Mediaite recognized the Morning Joe team as the "clear favorite for liberal viewers and inside-the-Beltway audiences," noting Joe Scarborough's role as the "leading man," delivering daily insights into the political zeitgeist with sharp analysis and energy.

Their show was the most closely tracked program leading up to the presidential election, with viewers recognizing the significant bipartisan influence the hosts wield across the political spectrum.

While interviewing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on June 21, 2005, Scarborough expressed concerns about the possibility that one of his sons may have suffered vaccine damage (see Thimerosal controversy).

"[116][117] In October 2001, Scarborough married his second wife, Susan Waren, a former aide to Florida governor Jeb Bush and a former congressional committee staffer.