MSNBC Contributor Steve Rattner Calls CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ Co-Host Joe Kernen a ‘Jackass’

Economic analyst rips colleague on Twitter

Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner

“Morning Joe” economic analyst Steven Rattner called CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-host Joe Kernen a “jackass” on Twitter Thursday morning.

Rattner is the chairman of Willett Advisors LLC and contributes for CNBC enough that he has a profile on the network’s website. Considering “Squawk Box” is the flagship morning show of CNBC, it probably surprised fans when Rattner tweeted, “.‪@SquawkCNBC would be so much better w/o that jackass, Joe Kernan. ‪@BeckyQuick and ‪@andrewrsorkin are great.”

A CNBC spokesperson declined TheWrap’s request for comment.

Rattner doubled down when commenters called him out for not tagging Kernan’s Twitter handle, resending the message with the proper tag and the message, “Sorry to have omitted your Twitter handle.”

Rattner and Kernen did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment by TheWrap.

While MSNBC is housed in NBC’s Manhattan headquarters and CNBC is in New Jersey, the two networks are sisters that both fall under the NBC News umbrella.

Kernen was active on Twitter Thursday afternoon but has not publicly responded to Rattner’s comment. He has been with CNBC since 1991 and is based in CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Prior to co-hosting “Squawk Box,” he was CNBC’s on-air stock editor and was featured throughout the business day on the network.

Willett Advisors is the investment arm for Michael Bloomberg‘s personal and philanthropic assets. Rattner also contributes to The New York Times, according to his website.

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