GOP Lawmakers, MSNBC Figures, And Others Express Disgust Over Trump’s Tweets Attacking Mika Brzezinski’s Looks

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In case you just woke up and haven’t felt the storm, President Trump’s daily early-morning tantrum included a set of Morning Joe tweets in which he slammed Joe Scarborough but really zeroed in on attacking Mika Brzezinski’s looks. “I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore),” he tweet-ranted. “Then how come low I.Q. 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 face-lift. I said no!”

It’s unclear to most people why Trump continues to tweet like this, but Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders immediately hopped to his defense while speaking on Fox News. “I don’t think that the president’s ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn’t push back,” Sanders opined. “This is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media or liberal elites in Hollywood or anywhere else.”

To Sanders, Trump’s tweets — no matter how crude — only represent him fighting back as part of the White House’s constant vendetta with the press. However, most people who witnessed the president’s behavior were appalled. And almost immediately after Trump’s tweets, Brzezinski replied with some obvious shade that was designed to strike Trump’s “hands” obsession.

Whereas Mark Kornblau, the Senior Vice President of Communications for NBCUniversal, tweeted, “Never imagined a day when I would think to myself, ‘it is beneath my dignity to respond to the President of the United States.'”

As for the official MSNBC response, the network’s Twitter PR account issued this statement: “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.”

Meanwhile, several Republican lawmakers were absolutely disgusted. House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t hesitate to state, “Obviously, I don’t see that as an appropriate comment.” Ryan further emphasized that insults like these are counterproductive to getting the job done in D.C.

Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted directly to the president: “Your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics.”

Whereas Sen. Ben Sasse asked Trump to “stop” while stating, “This isn’t normal and it’s beneath the dignity of your office.”

Sen. John McCain was left scratching his head: “It’s hard to understand, and not presidential…”

And Sen. Susan Collins was simply fed up: “This has to stop.”

Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins stated, “This is not okay. As a female in politics I am often criticized for my looks. We should be working to empower women.”

https://twitter.com/RepLynnJenkins/status/880433829856542721

Meanwhile over in CNN-land, Jake Tapper (and much of the Internet) wondered how Trump’s tweets can possibly be reconciled with First Lady Melania Trump’s campaign against cyber-bullying.

Officially — and according to Melania’s communication director (via White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins) — FLOTUS is okay with this: “As First Lady has stated publicly…when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.”

Of course, this November 2016 Melania speech, in which she argued that no one should be “made to feel less in looks or intelligence,” is now making the rounds…

Perhaps J.K. Rowling, who has been blocked by Trump on Twitter, can deliver the final word (in this installment, at least).