The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Trump’s latest attack on Mika Brzezinski is dripping with sexism

Trump’s tweets go after Brzezinski harder and more personally

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June 29, 2017 at 11:23 a.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Callum Borchers.

The hosts of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC criticized President Trump’s Twitter habit Thursday. “That’s your president of the United States lying to you,” Mika Brzezinski said of one tweet. It wasn’t long before Trump reacted on Twitter.

“Morning Joe” experienced its highest ratings ever in the second quarter of this year and has increased viewership in nine consecutive quarters.

Of the New Year’s Eve party, co-host Joe Scarborough said at the time that he and Brzezinski went to Mar-a-Lago to pitch an interview and left before the festivities were in full swing. The interview never happened, so it’s safe to assume Trump “said no” to the request. But his tweets Thursday suggested that he shot down an attempt to socialize.

Trump’s tweets follow a consistent pattern: When Trump hits Brzezinski and Scarborough on Twitter, he hits Brzezinski harder, more personally and in a way that seems designed to portray her as insecure (“facelift”) and unintelligent (“low IQ”) — as a side piece who would not be on TV if not for her romantic relationship with Scarborough, to whom she was recently engaged.

In response to Thursday’s tweets, 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.”