Thursday morning, President Donald Trump attacked MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Twitter, calling Brzezinski "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and describing her as “bleeding badly” after a facelift operation.
I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
This isn’t Trump’s first attack on the Morning Joe co-hosts, or even his first that focuses on Brzezinski, Scarborough’s co-host and fiancée. (He has a disturbingly long list of women he’s publicly insulted, many more than once.) In August of last year, he tweeted that Brzezinski was “a neurotic and not very bright mess” before following up that he planned to tell their “real story” when “things calm down.”
Tried watching low-rated @Morning_Joe this morning, unwatchable! @morningmika is off the wall, a neurotic and not very bright mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
Presumably, in the midst of stalling health care legislation and potential chemical weapons attacks, and on a day he’ll be meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to discuss North Korea, things are calm enough for the president to get into it.
Brzezinski responded Thursday morning by tweeting a photo in reference to a popular joke about the size of Trump’s hands.
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) June 29, 2017
Update: Several GOP Congress members have criticized Trump’s remarks. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) took to Twitter to condemn Trump’s tweets. Both emphasized that such comments were “beneath” the office of the presidency. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said he does not “see that as an appropriate comment” at a press conference.
Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 29, 2017
Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office.
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 29, 2017