Trump Mocks TV Anchor's Appearance, Personalizing War on News Media

U.S. President Donald Trump personalized his attacks on the news media Thursday, mocking the appearance of a well-known television commentator.

Trump has long described major news outlets as "fake news" for stories he does not like about his five-month tenure in the White House. In a new Twitter comment, he lambasted Mika Brzezinski, who hosts the morning television talk show Morning Joe, with her fiance, Joe Scarborough.

"I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore)." Trump wrote in a two-part message. "Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came 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!"

The couple said at the time they had gone to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to arrange an interview with the incoming president less than a month before his inauguration.

It was not immediately clear what drew Trump's ire about Brzezinski and Scarborough. Trump used to appear on the show before he took office, but when the television hosts turned critical of his presidency, Trump took to attacking them.

The White House social media director, Dan Scavino, Jr., also took aim at the show's hosts Thursday, saying in a tweet from his personal account, “#DumbAsARockMika and lover #JealousJoe are lost, confused & saddened since @POTUS @realDonaldTrump stopped returning their calls! Unhinged.”

'Little hands'

Brzezinski responded shortly after in a tweet of her own with a photo of a Cheerios cereal box showing a child and the slogan, “Made For Little Hands” — apparently a reference to last year's campaign, when the size of Trump's hands briefly became the target of political jokes.

Trump's White House aides and first lady Melania Trump have often tried — without success — to rein in his penchant for acerbic Twitter comments. Trump says it is his way of reaching millions of followers with comments unfiltered by the national news media he reviles.

During the campaign, Melania Trump called for a kinder and gentler America and said as first lady she would speak out against cyber-bullying.

"Our culture has gotten too mean and too rough, especially to children and teenagers," she said.

NBC, the television network that airs the Morning Joe show, issued a statement saying, "It's a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job."

Lawmakers' reactions

Two Republican lawmakers and others immediately took offense at Trump's latest Twitter tirade.

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said, "Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office."

Similarly, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, said, “Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the brouhaha, "The president again isn’t gonna be someone who’s bullied."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Mocks TV Anchor's Appearance, Personalizing War on News Media : http://ift.tt/2sm05oV