Mika Brzezinski facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mika Brzezinski
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Brzezinski in 2011
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Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski
May 2, 1967 New York City, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Williams College (BA) |
| Occupation | Television host, author |
| Employer | NBCUniversal |
| Television | Morning Joe (co-host) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Zbigniew Brzezinski (father) Emilie Benešová (mother) |
| Relatives | Ian Brzezinski (brother) Mark Brzezinski (brother) Matthew Brzezinski (cousin) |
Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (born May 2, 1967) is an American television host and author. She is best known for co-hosting the weekday morning show Morning Joe on MSNBC with her husband, Joe Scarborough. Before joining MSNBC, she worked as a correspondent for CBS News.
Mika is the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, a well-known diplomat and political scientist. He advised two U.S. presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Mika Brzezinski is also a visiting fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. She is very interested in making sure women earn fair wages. She has written three books, two about her career and one about food addiction.
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Early life and education
Mika Brzezinski was born in New York City. Her father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was a Polish-born expert in foreign policy. Her mother, Emilie Anna Benešová, was a Swiss-born sculptor. Mika's mother has Czech roots and is related to Edvard Beneš, a former president of Czechoslovakia.
When Mika was born, her father was teaching at Columbia University. In 1976, her family moved to McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.. This was because her father became the National Security Advisor for President Jimmy Carter. Mika has two brothers: Mark Brzezinski, who is a diplomat, and Ian Brzezinski, a military expert.
Mika went to the Madeira School. She then studied at Georgetown University for two years. Later, she transferred to Williams College, where she earned a degree in English in 1989.
Journalism career
Mika Brzezinski started her journalism career in 1990 as an assistant at ABC's World News This Morning. A year later, she moved to WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she worked her way up from editor to general assignments reporter.
In 1992, she joined WFSB-TV in Hartford. By 1995, she became the weekday morning anchor. In 1997, she joined CBS News as a correspondent and anchor for the Up to the Minute news program. She took a short break from CBS in 2001 to work for MSNBC on a show called HomePage.
Reporting on 9/11
Mika returned to CBS News in September 2001 as a desk correspondent. This was a very important time because of the September 11 attacks. She became a main reporter from "Ground Zero," the site of the World Trade Center collapse. She was broadcasting live when the South Tower fell.
In her final role at CBS News, Mika was a correspondent and fill-in anchor for breaking news. She also contributed to shows like CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes.
Joining MSNBC and Morning Joe
Mika Brzezinski returned to MSNBC in January 2007. She first did evening news updates and then primetime newsbreaks. She also reported for NBC Nightly News and appeared on Weekend Today. She later left these roles when Joe Scarborough asked her to co-host Morning Joe.
Since Morning Joe began, Mika has been a co-host and news reader. She works alongside Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist.
Standing up for serious news
On June 26, 2007, during an early Morning Joe show, Mika refused to read a news report about Paris Hilton being released from jail. She felt that news about important political events, like the Iraq War, was more important. When her producer insisted on the celebrity story, she tried to burn the script on air. When that didn't work, she tore it up and later ran another copy through a paper shredder.
This event became very popular online. Many people supported her protest, seeing it as a stand for "hard news" over "entertainment news". She did something similar in 2010 when she objected to reporting on Lindsay Lohan and Levi Johnston.
Disagreements with Donald Trump
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During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump, who was a candidate at the time, criticized Mika and Joe Scarborough on Twitter. In March 2017, Mika said Trump's presidency was "fake and failed." After this, Trump stopped following them on Twitter.
In June 2017, Trump again tweeted about Mika, making unpleasant comments about her appearance. Mika and Joe Scarborough later said that the White House had tried to pressure them to apologize to the President.
On May 20, 2020, while hosting Morning Joe, Mika spoke out against Trump for tweeting about her husband, Joe Scarborough. She said, "Donald, you're a sick person. You're a sick person, to put this family through this...". She also said she would contact Twitter because she felt Trump's tweet broke their rules.
In November 2024, after the 2024 United States presidential election, Mika and Joe Scarborough met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Refusing interviews with Kellyanne Conway
On February 15, 2017, Mika Brzezinski decided that Kellyanne Conway, a spokesperson for Donald Trump, would no longer be invited on her show. Mika explained that she didn't want to share "fake news" or information that wasn't true. She said that whenever she saw Conway on TV, something seemed "askew, off or incorrect."
Her co-host, Joe Scarborough, agreed. He said their decision was because Conway was "out of the loop" and "not briefed" on important meetings. He felt Conway was just saying things to be on TV.
Personal life
On October 23, 1993, Mika Brzezinski married TV news reporter James Patrick Hoffer. They met while working at WTIC-TV. They have two daughters together. Mika and James divorced in 2016.
In early 2017, Mika became engaged to her Morning Joe co-host, Joe Scarborough. They were married on November 24, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The couple spends their summers at Mika's family home in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
Awards and honors
In 2021, Mika Brzezinski was chosen for the first-ever Forbes 50 Over 50 list. This list celebrates successful entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and creators who are over 50 years old.
In August 2022, Mika received an honorary doctorate from SWPS University.
Books written
In January 2010, Mika Brzezinski published her memoir called All Things at Once. A memoir is a book about a person's own life and experiences. This book talks about her journey in journalism, including the challenges and exciting moments like covering 9/11. She wrote it to help people who might be unemployed, seeing it as a chance for a new start.
Her second book, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth, came out in 2011. It gives advice to women about how to negotiate their salaries and job benefits. In 2018, this book was updated and re-released as Know Your Value.
Her third book, Obsessed: America's Food Addiction and My Own, was published in 2012. In 2021, Forbes magazine teamed up with Mika and her "Know Your Value" project. They worked together to highlight 50 diverse women over 50 who have achieved great success later in life, often after overcoming difficulties.
See also
- Cable news in the United States
- New Yorkers in journalism
