Trump climbs into US journo

PRESENTER HAS ‘LOW IQ; BLEEDS FROM FACELIFT’ President’s personal attack on TV anchor ‘undignified, unpresidential’.

Donald Trump unleashed a brutal personal attack on respected female television host Mika Brzezinski, sparking an instant backlash, in the latest salvo in the president’s ongoing war with the media.

Trump’s Twitter outburst – in which he describes the journalist “bleeding badly from a facelift” – appears to have been triggered by Brzezinski’s sharp comments during the morning show she cohosts with Joe Scarborough on the left-leaning MSNBC network.

“I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore),” wrote Trump.

“Then how come low IQ 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 facelift. I said no!” he tweeted.

In recent days Trump has escalated his attacks on US media outlets – which he accuses of peddling “fake news” about him – singling out CNN over the retraction of a story about his administration’s supposed links with Russia, but also assailing rival cable networks, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

But the vulgarity of his latest assault triggered a torrent of criticism.

“Inappropriate. Undignified. Unpresidential,” tweeted Jeb Bush, Trump’s rival for the White House nomination last year, while House Speaker Paul Ryan conceded Trump’s comments were “not appropriate.” – AFP