Radio host Charlamagne Tha God and former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said the “Morning Joe” co-hosts’ controversial visit to the estate of President-elect Donald Trump was nothing more than a play for ratings.

MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, two of Trump’s fiercest critics in the media, revealed on Monday they had a face-to-face meeting last week with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, saying it was an important opportunity for those who disagree to speak with each other. 

Haley spoke about the incident on an episode of her SiriusXM show, “Nikki Haley Live,” that will be released in full on Wednesday, November 27, at 8 a.m. ET.

“Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough tore me up when I said anything about voting for Donald Trump or what I agreed with him on, even though I criticized him when I thought he was wrong. I praised him when I thought he was good. They tore me up,” Haley said of the duo before their abrupt about-face.

LIBERALS RAGE AGAINST ‘MORNING JOE’ ‘BETRAYAL’ AFTER CO-HOSTS MEET WITH TRUMP: ‘WE WILL NOT FORGIVE’

“But the truth is, it’s not that they suddenly saw the light. It’s that they saw the ratings,” Haley suggested as Charlamagne chuckled and agreed. “I mean, let’s be clear. They saw the ratings tank and they realized, ‘Oh, we better get on with Donald Trump or else we’re not going to have a show.'”

“It’s a ratings and revenue game,” Charlamagne said. “What I don’t understand is, if you don’t like something that somebody’s saying, if you don’t like something that somebody’s doing, why not go talk to that person about it and challenge them right then and there?” 

He added that the Democrats, some of whom have complained they need their own liberal media, could start changing their game plan by simply appearing on the platforms they criticize.

“That’s why I think the biggest issue is, even now, when I see all of these liberals, they’re having these conversations about, ‘Oh, the left needs a Joe Rogan’ or ‘The left needs a conservative network like the right has.’ It’s like, no, how about, grow some balls and go on these platforms? How about, go talk to Joe Rogan?” he said.

WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST SAYS MEDIA SPUN FOR DEMOCRATS ‘UNDER THREAT OF BLOWBACK’ FROM LEFT

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough enraged liberals on social media after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Charlamagne added further that there is one Democrat who appears to be ahead of the curve on this tactic.

“When you look at what Governor Newsom is doing right now, I think it’s a smart strategy. Like, you know, he’s not my favorite candidate, right? Or anybody that I’m looking to support at this moment. But I like his media strategy,” Charlamagne said, suggesting that by going on news outlets like Fox News, Newsom is “meeting people where they are. And I think that’s what a lot of these politicians aren’t doing. At least the Democratic politicians, they’re not meeting people where they are.”

The news about the Trump-Scarborough-Brzezinski meeting set off a firestorm on the left, with MSNBC staffers lashing out at the co-hosts.

“Cowardice,” one MSNBC employee reacted to Fox News Digital. “Doing exactly what [anti-Trump historian] Tim Snyder warns on our air not to do: obey in advance. It’s disgusting but frankly unsurprising.”

The source said MSNBC’s rank and file are now “largely disdainful” of the network’s morning stars, saying it “feels like they are just opportunistic.”

Trump, meanwhile, described the meeting as “extremely cordial.”

“I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such a meeting took place,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication … In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.

“The meeting ended in a very positive manner, and we agreed to speak in the future,” he added.

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Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia prosecutors on Monday placed Jose Ibarra, the suspect accused of murdering Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February, at the scene using a jailhouse phone call to his wife, according to Fox News contributor Paul Mauro.

Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan national, is charged with 10 counts in connection with Riley’s murder on the morning of Feb. 22, when Riley was out for her usual morning jog along trails on the UGA campus near Lake Herrick. He will appear in an Athens courtroom for the third day of his murder trial on Tuesday. 

On Monday, the second day of Ibarra’s trial, an Athens-Clarke County courtroom heard a recorded prison phone call between Ibarra and his wife, Layling Franco, that was played aloud and translated by an FBI analyst who spoke fluent Spanish.

“She said that she thinks it’s crazy that they don’t have anyone else’s DNA. They only have his. And she says she doesn’t understand how someone can see someone dying and not calling [sic] 911,” FBI analyst Abeisis Ramirez testified in court on Monday while translating the call for the prosecution.

LAKEN RILEY’S ALLEGED KILLER JOSE IBARRA FLEW FROM ‘GROUND ZERO’ OF MIGRANT CRISIS TO GEORGIA

Mauro, a former executive officer for the New York Police Department‘s Intelligence Operations and Analysis Bureau, said the call essentially places Ibarra at the scene of the crime.

“She very clearly doesn’t believe him. … She says, at one point, ‘Jose, I know you,’ a very … telling moment,” Mauro said of the calling with Franco.. “And then at one point … the real crushing statement is when she says to him, ‘I can’t believe somebody could see somebody dying and not call 911.'”

LAKEN RILEY MURDER TRIAL: PROSECUTORS PLACE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT AT SCENE IN OPENING STATEMENTS

An exterior view of Jose Antonio Ibarra’s apartment in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Ibarra has been charged with the murder of Laken Riley after she was found dead along a walking trail on the University of Georgia’s campus earlier this week. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

Mauro said he believes the phone call seems to “be a reference to him having told her, I was there, I saw the body, but I didn’t call 911, and I didn’t do it.”

“The most interesting thing, I thought, was actually the most prosaic, which is the fact that [Riley] has fingernail scrapings — she had skin under her fingernails — from fighting for her life, and Jose had injuries with having gotten those injuries from that kind of a fight,” Mauro said, referring to UGA Police Department bodycam footage played in court on Monday that showed investigators looking at Ibarra’s body for signs of injury.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN LAKEN RILEY MURDER ‘FAST-TRACKING’ TO LIFE IN PRISON: ATTORNEY

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder.  (Laken Riley/Facebook)

UGA PD patrol Cp. Rafael Sayan testified Monday that he questioned Ibarra on Feb. 23 — the day after Riley’s murder — about injuries on his hands and arms, which Ibarra mostly brushed off as general scratches or bleeding from the cold weather in February. 

Bodycam footage from that morning show officers’ first encounter with Ibarra on Feb. 23. They initially arrived at the apartment around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 23 and questioned Jose’s brothers, Diego and Argenis Ibarra, before they obtained a search warrant and went inside the apartment.

WATCH: POLICE ENTER JOSE IBARRA’S APARTMENT:

The footage shows officers walking inside shining a light on Jose, who was in bed at the time, and repeatedly saying “hola” in an effort to wake him up. After about a minute, Jose gets out of bed and puts his hands up. 

“This is speculation, but I suspect he was likely highly intox[icated],” Mauro said, noting that investigators linked a white plastic cup containing a liquid smelling of alcohol to the scene of Riley’s murder. A suspicious male was seen holding a white cup in security camera footage taken near the crime scene that morning. Late on, investigators found a similar white, plastic cup that smelled of alcohol on Feb. 22, according to law enforcement testimony on Monday.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN GEORGIA COLLEGE STUDENT SLAYING ASKS TO HIDE CERTAIN EVIDENCE

A general view of the area where Laken Riley’s body was found near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra has been charged with the murder of Riley after she was killed earlier this week. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

The suspect is charged with 10 counts total, including one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rape, one count of aggravated battery, one count of hindering a 911 call, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of being a “peeping Tom.” Ibarra pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Prosecutor Ross said Ibarra then encountered Riley on her typical morning run and attacked her. 

Laken Riley’s killing has gripped the nation as the border crisis continues.  (ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

“On Feb. 22, Jose Ibarra put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket, and some black kitchen-style disposable gloves, and he went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus,”  Ross said in her opening statement Friday.

Ibarra and his brothers, also in the United States illegally from Venezuela, lived in an apartment building less than a half mile from the on-campus park where Riley was running.

The defendant’s attorney, Dustin Kirby, argued in his opening statement that evidence would not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ibarra killed Riley. He said it would take “gymnastics” for the prosecution to argue Ibarra killed Riley with what he described as “circumstantial evidence.”

Jose Ibarra, accused of killing a Georgia nursing student earlier this year, listens through an interpreter as he sits with his attorneys Dustin Kirby, second left, and Kaitlyn Beck, left, during his trial  at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

“If that happens and the presumption of innocence is respected, there should not be enough evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ibarra is guilty of the crimes charged,” Kirby said on Monday.

UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark previously described the murder as a “crime of opportunity” during a February press conference.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER EXPOSED GLARING SECURITY LAPSES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES, NEED FOR EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHTS

Jose Ibarra looks down as he listens through an interpreter during his trial at the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Poolv)

Ibarra illegally crossed into the United States through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News.

Diego Ibarra, who worked briefly in a UGA cafeteria before his arrest in February, is charged with green card fraud and had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., called Tren de Aragua, according to federal court documents.

On Friday afternoon, the defense subpoenaed Diego Ibarra and their younger brother, Argenis Ibarra, to testify during Jose’s trial on Wednesday.

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Thursday, February 22, 2024. (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)

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ICE previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jose Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year after he entered the U.S. in August 2023 and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”

Mauro said some criminal cases become “representative of something larger than themselves,” and Riley’s case is one of them.

“This forced…these issues forward. All the sudden, you had to talk about this stuff,” Mauro said, referencing the topic of illegal immigration.

The former NYPD officer also praised the UGA Police Department’s quick work to apprehend the suspect in connection with Riley’s murder just a day after she was killed.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

A man has been arrested and charged with murder after the Leon County Sheriff’s Office found human remains linked to a missing persons case on a property in Buffalo, Texas.

Michael Dean Davis Jr., 27, was arrested in connection with the discovery of the remains now known to belong to a mother that has not been seen or heard from by family members since July 2022, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The investigation into the case began on June 19 after LCSO received a report of a missing person and child. Both were then entered into the National Crime Information Center as missing persons at that time.

“The investigation revealed that Davis was likely armed and was a possible threat to his son. Due to the suspect’s violent tendencies and potential threat to law enforcement and the surrounding neighborhood, a plan of approach was created and executed on Nov. 12, 2024,” the agency stated.

TEXAS COUPLE ACCUSED OF MURDERING MAN THEY SHARED A CONDO WITH, COVERING HIS BODY WITH RUGS

The sheriff’s office executed a search warrant on the property in Buffalo where they were able to recover the remains, which were later positively identified by The Center for Human Identification (CHI) at The University of North Texas.

The remains are believed to be those of a 27-year-old woman named Mahogany Washington, who was the mother of Davis’ 8-year-old son, according to the Laredo Morning Times and local outlet KGNS.

The son was found in Davis’ care unharmed and is now in Child Protective Services.

The remains are believed to belong to Mahogany Washington, 27, who shared an 8-year-old son with suspect Michael Davis. (iStock)

‘THE VOICE’ WINNER SUNDANCE HEAD SHOT ON HIS TEXAS RANCH

Fox News Digital reached out to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office for confirmation but did not immediately receive a response.

Davis was apprehended in Laredo on Nov. 12 and has officially been charged with the murder.

Davis was booked into jail on a $3 million bond. (iStock)

He is currently being held on a $3 million bond.

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“Multiple agencies worked together in order to coordinate the arrest of Davis and the safe recovery of a missing and endangered child. Those agencies include: The Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Leon County District Attorney’s Office, US Marshals’ Lone Star Fugitive Task Force-Waco, US Marshals’ Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force – Laredo Division, Laredo Police Department and their SWAT team, US Postal Inspection Service, Webb County District Attorney’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Texas Department of Public Safety – Texas Rangers Division,” the release said.

Newly released police bodycam footage shows what authorities said was a Michigan man driving a riding mower and refusing to pull over for a deputy before getting tased and accidentally shooting himself in the hand. 

On Sept. 19, police responded to a home in Leoni Township to arrest a man who had several warrants, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. 

The deputy arrived at the home to arrest 41-year-old James Mitchell Kerr, who was driving a riding lawn mower and allegedly refused to get off the machine.

Authorities said Kerr accelerated toward the deputy before riding away as the deputy chased him. 

FLORIDA DEPUTIES PURSUE SUSPECT IN ONE OF THE ‘SLOWEST CHASES IN HISTORY’ AFTER HIT-AND-RUN, AUTHORITIES SAY

The mower eventually stopped in a ditch, but Kerr allegedly refused to comply with the deputy’s commands even after the deputy threatened to tase him.

Police said Kerr continued to ignore the deputy’s command and went back to the mower, drew a handgun that was hidden on the mower, and pointed it at the deputy.

OWNER OF FAMOUS ‘CONJURING’ HOUSE ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED DUI AFTER POLICE CHASE IN RHODE ISLAND: VIDEO

Police bodycam video shows James Kerr allegedly fleeing on a riding lawn mower. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office)

In response, the deputy fired his stun gun, striking Kerr, which caused Kerr to shoot himself in the hand.

Kerr was treated and released from a local hospital for the gunshot wound. The deputy was not injured.

MICHIGAN BOY STEALS FORKLIFT FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL, LEADS POLICE ON CHASE: OFFICIALS

A Michigan man with outstanding warrants was tased by a deputy after allegedly fleeing on a riding lawn mower and refusing arrest. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office)

“This incident underscores how rapidly a seemingly routine encounter can escalate and the potential dangers deputies face daily,” the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said. “Thankfully, the deputy was unharmed, and the suspect did not sustain serious injuries.”

Once cleared, Kerr was arrested and released on bail.

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Jackson County Sheriff Gary Schuette also requested the Michigan State Police to conduct an independent criminal investigation while the sheriff’s office conducted an internal investigation. The internal investigation found no policy violations occurred during the altercation.

Kerr was charged in October and bound over for trial in circuit court last week. He remains in the Jackson County Jail.

The Houston Texans have won the battle of Texas, as they dominated the struggling Dallas Cowboys, 34-10, on “Monday Night Football.”

Houston came into this game losing back-to-back games, and there were some murmurs from the fan base about what needs to be done on offense with C.J. Stroud struggling to get going of late. 

But, with his trusty receiver Nico Collins back from a hamstring injury, Stroud looked more poised, and it opened up a lot for offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to work with. 

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Collins’ return to the football field led to 54 yards on four receptions. 

His first catch of the game was a screen that went all the way for a touchdown, which would’ve been the ultimate welcome back. However, it was called back due to an illegal man downfield. 

But a few plays later, it was Joe Mixon, the Texans’ workhorse running back, scoring his first of three touchdowns on the night – a 45-yard sprint that got past every Cowboys defender on his way to the end zone. 

LARGE METAL PIECE FALLS ON AT&T STADIUM FIELD BEFORE COWBOYS-TEXANS GAME

Mixon’s second came on the Texans’ third drive of the game, as he bounced out to the right and showboated his way into the colored paint to give the Texans a definitive 14-0 lead. He finished the game with 109 yards on the ground on 20 carries. 

But Cooper Rush and the Cowboys’ offense didn’t just roll over like last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Rush needed to get something going for Dallas after an opening-drive fake punt was thwarted by Houston, and the signal caller threw an interception on the team’s second drive. 

He did just that with KaVontae Turpin’s speed, as he caught a slant and hit the jets for a 64-yard touchdown. It was exactly what the Cowboys, and Rush in particular, needed to feel confident with the ball in their hands after scoring just six points a week ago. 

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) runs with the ball as Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre (5) defends during the first half at AT&T Stadium.  (Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)

While no other play found the end zone after Turpin, there was a back-and-forth of field goals between Ka’imi Fairbairn and Brandon Aubrey, the latter of who knocked through an incredible 64-yard field goal. 

In the second half, with Houston owning a 20-10 lead, the Cowboys were knocking on the doorstep, looking at fourth-and-2 from the Texans’ 8-yard line. Head coach Mike McCarthy opted to go for it, but a pass that went incomplete turned the ball over on downs for the second time this game. 

The Cowboys were able to force the Texans to punt, but a costly mistake came when Rush was strip sacked and despite one of his offensive lineman scooping up the fumble, it was knocked out of his hands and Derek Barnett took it into the end zone to make it 27-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Mixon would later rush for his third touchdown of the night, which was the kill shot for the Cowboys, who have now lost five straight games and moved to 3-7. 

Stroud was efficient with his passes in this one, going 23-of-34 for 257 yards, though he didn’t throw a touchdown. He hit eight different receivers, including Tank Dell who matched Collins’ output of 54 yards on four catches. 

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (28) runs for a touchdown  past Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) during the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. (Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)

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For the Cowboys, Rush had to throw 55 times, completing 32 of them for 354 yards with one touchdown and one interception. CeeDee Lamb hauled in a game-high eight catches for 93 yards, though his face said it all on the sidelines after yet another crushing loss. 

Finally, the Cowboys have now trailed by at least 20 points in six straight home games, which continues to be an NFL record as they can’t figure things out in their own barn. 

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