Trump tweets into new trouble
MOCKS TV HOST’S APPEARANCE, INTELLIGENCE
Donald Trump has yet again been accused of sexism after describing a female television host as “crazy” and “bleeding badly from a facelift.”
The U.S. president Thursday apparently mocked the appearance and intelligence of Mika Brzezinski, 50, in tweets that both senior Democrats and Republicans described as beneath the dignity of his office.
Brzezinski is a co- host on Morning Joe, a popular news show on MSNBC, which she co- hosts with Joe Scarborough, 54, a former Republican congressman.
The pair, who are engaged, were broadly supportive of Trump during the presidential campaign — which was almost derailed after the release of a 2005 video in which he was heard bragging about groping women.
But they have now become leading critics of the president.
During the show Thursday, both hosts raised concerns about the president seeming to sideline Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in favour of allowing his son- in- law, Jared Kushner, to act as a de facto secretary of state. Brzezinski said Trump’s behaviour is unlike that of any president before him.
“Let’s say someone came into NBC and took over NBC and started tweeting wildly about people’s appearances, bullying people, talking about people in the competition, lying every day, undermining his managers, throwing them under — the person would be thrown out,” she said.
“It’s just not normal behaviour. In fact, there would be concern that perhaps the person who runs the company is out of his mind.”
Hours later, Trump tweeted the couple had spent three nights at his Mar- a- Lago resort in Florida over New Year.
He wrote: “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 to Mara- Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a facelift. I said no!”
Brzezinski responded by posting on social media a picture of a Cheerios box carrying the phrase “Made for Little Hands,” a reference to the size of Trump’s hands.
Trump has long been defensive about the size of his hands, an issue that seemed to start decades ago when Graydon Carter described Trump as a “short-fingered vulgarian” in Spy magazine. Carter, now the editor of Vanity Fair, said that since then, Trump has regularly mailed him tear sheets from magazines with his hands circled in gold Sharpie to highlight the length of his fingers.
On the campaign trail, Sen. Marco Rubio brought up the size of Trump’s hands, prompting Trump to defend himself during a debate, saying: “And he referred to my hands — if they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there is no problem. I guarantee you.”
MSNBC said: “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.”
And Republicans and Democrats from the Senate and House reacted strongly to the tweets, calling Trump’s language “unpresidential” and beneath the presti- gious office he holds.
Paul Ryan, the Republican House speaker, said: “We’re trying to improve the tone and civility of the debate and this doesn’t help.”
“To call Trump’s attacks on @ morningmika & @ JoeNBC “unpresidential” hardly begins to describe the impropriety. Mr. President, please grow up,” tweeted Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, added: “Mr President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.”
Trump needs the support of several wavering female Republican senators to pass the health care bill aimed at dismantling ObamaCare.
One of them, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, tweeted: “This has to stop — we all have a job — 3 branches of gov’t and media. We don’t have to get along, but we must show respect and civility.”
It was the latest in a series of incidents in which Trump has targeted the appearance of women.
Referring to Megyn Kelly, a news anchor, he said: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
He also mocked Carly Fiorina, a Republican rival, saying: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?”
White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said Morning Joe had in the past called Trump and his staff “utterly stupid, mentally ill, liars.”
She said: “I’m a woman and I’ve even (been) attacked by that show many times but I don’t cry foul. The president defends himself and everyone’s appalled.”
“This is a president who fights fire with fire, and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media and the liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else,” Sanders said.
SHE WAS BLEEDING BADLY FROM A FACELIFT. I SAID NO!