TV pair hit back at Trump’s ‘bleeding facelift’ tweet
THE co-hosts of a US morning talk show have struck back at abusive tweets from President Donald Trump.
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski claimed Mr Trump lied about a previous encounter in a tweet and said his ‘unhealthy obsession’ with their Morning Joe programme does not serve his mental health or the country well.
The two MSNBC personalities postponed a holiday to respond to Mr Trump’s tweet, which drew broad condemnation after he called Ms Brzezinski ‘crazy’ and claimed she was ‘bleeding badly from a facelift’ when he saw them at his Florida estate in December.
‘It’s been fascinating and frightening and really sad for our country,’ she said on the programme. The hosts, who also published a column on the Washington Post website yesterday, said they had known Mr Trump for more than a decade and had ‘fond memories’ of their relationship, but that he has changed in the past two years.
They visited his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in late December to encourage Mr Trump to give them an interview.
Ms Brzezinski said she believes her teasing over a Washington Post story about fake Time magazine covers, featuring Mr Trump’s face, hanging at his golf facilities is what precipitated the latest Twitter attack.
‘It is unbelievably alarming that this president is so easily played, he is easily played by a cable news host,’ she said. The presenters were criticised by some for being too close to Mr Trump during the election campaign, but have now turned against him. They said Mr Trump was lying about Ms Brzezinski having a facelift, although they admitted ‘she did have a little skin under her chin tweaked’.
The president’s tweets united Democrats and Republicans in a chorus of protest that amounted to perhaps the loudest outcry since Mr Trump took office.