JOE SCARBOROUGH (CO-HOST): I think it's absolutely fascinating that it's in the mainstream of American political thought that now Donald Trump can win the Republican nomination. This is something that most people, other than you, thought impossible even three months ago, six months ago. And I must say you said it very early before anybody else said it, even the fact that you suggested that he could have a big impact on the race was scorned by almost all media outlets who have spent the last six to nine months suggesting that we were wrong about that. Now that it is happening, they are now mocking and ridiculing us because we got it right --

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): Well actually it's more scorn.

SCARBOROUGH: And suggested that somehow, somehow we're too close to Donald Trump when that's just a lie. The fact of the matter is they're just angry because they have been wrong for nine months and we've been right.

BRZEZINSKI: You know, it is also, it's, you know -- we saw it with Joe Klein yesterday, his head was about to explode here on the set, and there are people who cannot get their heads around this. And because we've known him on previous levels professionally, we had a sense about this. And it's not just scorn we're getting, I mean from some of our competitors we're getting a strange microscope as if we are incapable of asking Donald Trump tough questions.

SCARBOROUGH: It's amazing.

BRZEZINSKI: If you saw the town hall, you would see that we've asked him every question, we've pushed back. I don't agree with probably four out of six major things that he said. I thought they were horrible, and I have said that, and I'll say it again. And yet you have our competition holding a similar town hall and asking him if he likes pizza. Are you kidding me?

SCARBOROUGH: Asks if he likes pizza.

BRZEZINSKI: And what music you listen to. I don't remember doing that.

SCARBOROUGH: Well and last week, it was the same exact thing last week with the town hall meeting that a competitor --

BRZEZINSKI: And then they have us doing articles. This is Trump derangement syndrome.

SCARBOROUGH: It is.

BRZEZINSKI: It's not us.

SCARBOROUGH: And so a competitor of ours actually asks questions about how did you meet your wife? You know, what's it like being in first place, etc., etc.

BRZEZINSKI: How do you relax? Do you sleep?

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, how much sleep do you get? And for some reason there are no articles written about this. The Washington Post actually after our town hall meeting the other night when I peppered him with so many questions that I was actually attacked for interrupting too much, actually said how dare they hold a town hall meeting where they don't ask him tough questions. It's a bunch of nonsense.

BRZEZINSKI: So I hope The Washington Post -- and CNN does a piece on Biden.

SCARBOROUGH: Here is the great thing, alright? We live in a world of transcripts. We live in a world of transcripts. Look at the transcripts. The truth is out there.

BRZEZINSKI: Look at ours.

SCARBOROUGH:And we asked tough questions, tougher questions certainly in the town hall meeting the other night than anybody else has asked him in any town hall. You can look at Anderson Cooper's last week, and you can look at what happened last night.

BRZEZINSKI: Love him. And he, it was a good town hall, by the way.

SCARBOROUGH: Let me just say I love Anderson cooper.

BRZEZINSKI: And he did a good job.

SCARBOROUGH: And we've been very positive about Anderson Cooper, but just because our competitors have hired media reporters who have actually planted this seed in other people's head that we're going easy on Donald Trump, that we asked tougher questions than our competitors ask, who have the media writers. And people have the audacity to ask are we too close to Donald Trump. The answer is no, we're not.

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: I think it was Erik Wemple of The Washington Post said, well, how dare you have a town hall meeting where you don't ask about his racist comments and his thing on Muslims.

BRZEZINSKI: Terrible comments.

SCARBOROUGH: And all these terrible comments. By the way, CNN, he didn't write that article after CNN was asking what his favorite flavor of ice cream was and how he slept and what does he order when he goes through McDonald's. We asked tough questions, and it wasn't the first time that we ever interviewed him. And that's the frustration. We've asked the tough questions about Muslims, we've asked the tough questions about Mexicans, we've asked the tough questions about John McCain, but don't you get a sense, Gene, from people that are complaining to you, that if you don't stand on top of him with your knees on his chest and stab him in the side of the neck until he bleeds out, it's never going to be enough.

[CROSSTALK]

SCARBOROUGH: I'm serious.

GENE ROBINSON: That would not be enough.

SCARBOROUGH: That would not be enough.

ROBINSON: Unless it causes his support to completely go away.

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.

[CROSSTALK]

SCARBOROUGH: And here is the big lie, by the way --

ROBINSON: What people are objecting to are the fact that he continues to do well despite --

BRZEZINSKI: Do your jobs, we'll do ours. Let's play fair.

SCARBOROUGH: Here is the amazing thing, and I do understand there's a great deal of resentment out there. We are analysts, our job is to analyze. And Mika and I certainly understand you're really angry because we called this first. We understand you're humiliated because this is your job, and while you were saying Donald Trump was a joke, we were saying that Donald Trump was actually going to have an impact on this race. We understand that while you said there was no way he would even get into the race, Mika was saying he could win the Republican nomination. I know, listen.

BRZEZINSKI: And he might not.

SCARBOROUGH: He might not. We said he might. And people hated us for even saying he might. I know it's humiliating to you. I've done some things that have been really humiliating in my life too. So listen, I'm going to pray for you. We're in the bible belt here and we're going to pray you get through it.

BRZEZINSKI: This has been fun.

SCARBOROUGH: But here's the thing, OK? Can I say all the people said amen.

CROWD: Amen.

SCARBOROUGH: Let's pray for them. Listen, you can be humiliated but look inward because, you know, my momma always told me in the swamps of Northwest Florida, when you point a finger at a person you've got four fingers pointing back at you. How about that?

Previously:

Morning Joe Hosts Criticized For Soft Interview Of Donald Trump During Primetime Town Hall

Media Critic: MSNBC's Joe Scarborough's “Unbelievable” Relationship With Donald Trump Is “Inappropriate”

Morning Joe Softball Interview Lets Donald Trump Cite His “Many Environmental Awards” As Answer To Climate Change