MSNBC taps AP’s Lemire to host ‘Way Too Early’ morning show

MSNBC has hired Associated Press White House reporter and morning show regular Jonathan Lemire to serve as the host of its “Way Too Early” politics and news program. 

Lemire announced his new gig on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, saying “Way Too Early” is “going to have a real reporter’s sensibility” to it. 

“We’re going to have some fun with the news, but we’re also going to have important lawmakers throughout Washington talk about what’s driving the day,” Lemire said. 

Lemire, who has guest-hosted “Way Too Early” several times in recent weeks, takes over full-time hosting duties from Kasie Hunt, who left NBC Universal earlier this year for a reportedly lucrative deal and a new show at CNN+ as part of that network’s push toward streaming services.

We are thrilled to welcome @JonLemire to POLITICO as White House Bureau Chief and @maxwelltani as the newest member of the West Wing Playbook team.

Read the full announcement below from White House Editor @samstein and Editor-in-Chief @KaminskiMK ⬇️https://t.co/EVuKz9Wlx2 https://t.co/1jj8TBpE5X

— POLITICO Press (@POLITICOPress) October 25, 2021

Lemire is also leaving his job at the AP, where he covered the administrations of former President Trump and President Biden, for a new role at Politico, where he’ll serve as White House bureau chief. 

“Jonathan Lemire, one of the most versatile and trusted reporters on the White House beat, will be joining us as our new bureau chief this November, helping to spearhead our coverage of the current administration,” Politico White House Editor Sam Stein and Editor-in-Chief Matt Kaminski said in a memo to staffers on Monday morning. 

Politico also announced the hiring of Daily Beast media reporter Max Tani to its West Wing Playbook team starting in December and said it is shifting Tina Sfondeles from West Wing Playbook team to the White House beat full-time. 

“Yes, he occasionally would break an item about the happenings here at POLITICO,” Stein and Kaminski said of Tani. “No, we did not hire him so that he’d stop doing that.”