President Donald Trump denounced MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Thursday after the “Morning Joe” co-host called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “butt-boy” on air Wednesday for his defense of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
“If it was a Conservative that said what ‘crazed’ Mika Brzezinski stated on her show yesterday, using a certain horrible term, that person would be banned permanently from television,” Trump said in a tweet. “She will probably be given a pass, despite their terrible ratings.”
Trump also praised Richard Grenell, the openly gay U.S. Ambassador to Germany, after he criticized Brzezinski on his own Twitter feed.
“Outrageous. This is totally unacceptable & deeply disturbing. Sexualizing gay people this way is designed to control them & minimize our worth,” Grenell said, while also adding that he didn’t think much of Brzezinski’s walk-back.
“Accepting apologies is important. We all fail,” he said. “But I don’t see that you’ve actually apologized to gays? Your words demean, mock and therefore try to control whole groups by minimizing our humanity.”
Brzezinski did not appear on “Morning Joe” on Thursday, which her co-host Joe Scarborough attributed to a “long-planned family event.”
A rep for MSNBC declined to comment on Trump’s tweet. Brzezinski issued an apology on Twiter shortly after the show wrapped on Wednesday.
“SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said “water boy”… like for football teams or something like that.. apologize to @SenatorDurbin too! SO SORRY!” she tweeted.
On Wednesday, Brzezinski angrily reacted to a clip of Pompeo on “Fox & Friends” standing up for bin Salman despite evidence that has shown that bin Salman was intimately involved in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Why doesn’t Mike Pompeo care right now?” Brzezinski asked. “Are the pathetic deflections that we just heard when he appeared on ‘Fox and Friends,’ is that a patriot speaking, or a wannabe dictator’s butt-boy? I’m dead serious. I’m asking, are these the words of a patriot?”
It’s not the first time Trump has taken shots directly at Brzezinski. Last year, the president tweeted that he once saw Brzezinski at his Florida club after a facelift and that she was “bleeding badly.” The ensuring outrage sparked a news cycle that lasted several days.