It’s mid-morning on Thursday and by now most of the country has heard about Donald Trump’s latest expression of his abhorrent character (or lack thereof). For those who haven’t, he tweeted a grotesque insult aimed at MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. It was fairly typical of his misogynistic tendencies. For some reason, his most vile comments are usually saved for women.
Trump’s tweets, as usual, were as riddled with lies as with loathing. For the record, this what he wrote:
I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
…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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
Let’s set aside the horrific remarks about Mika Brzezinski. They have been appropriately covered and condemned elsewhere. And not just by Democrats and liberals. Below are some of the responses from prominent Republicans.
However, it also needs to be noted that the parts of Trump’s tweets that weren’t nauseating and childish were untrue. Morning Joe has been enjoying record ratings and nine straight quarters of growth. Trump couldn’t possibly know what Mika’s IQ is, and given his raging ignorance, he’s certainly in no position to talk. At the New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago he did not say “no” to Mika and Joe. They were photographed socializing. And, of course, there was no sign of bleeding or recent surgery. Finally, how does he always know what’s on Morning Joe if he never watches it?
Trump’s tweets were received with both disgust and disbelief. Except, that is, from within his own camp. Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rushed over to Fox News to try to address the erupting crisis. Her efforts were pathetic and even viewed skeptically by host Bill Hemmer. Her position was that Trump is the victim and he was merely defending himself:
“I don’t think that the president’s ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn’t push back. There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks, not just to him, but to frankly everyone around him.
“People on that show have personally attacked me many times. This is a president who fights fire with fire. And certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by a liberal media and the liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else.”
Deputy WH Press Secretary VIGOROUSLY defends Trump's ad hominem attacks on Mika Brzezinski, saying he won't be bullied pic.twitter.com/Wcf8913PAQ
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 29, 2017
This prompted Hemmer to ask “Look, I get it. But is that necessary?’ Sanders just robotically repeated her prearranged talking points. What she apparently doesn’t understand is that, even if the program was critical of Trump, there’s a big difference. They are television pundits. He’s the President of the United States. And for him to lash out in such an infantile manner is disgraceful and embarrassing to the nation. Whenever he launches these odious tweetstorms he is avoiding his duty as president. The fact that he took the time to compose and post these tweets means that he wasn’t working on healthcare, North Korea, the economy, or terrorism. Well, that may actually be good news considering the harm he would likely cause.
Here is a collection of responses from Republicans who were rightfully disturbed by Trump’s hateful messaging:
Dear @realDonaldTrump,
You are a pig.
Sincerely,
Bill Kristol https://t.co/2IG7yXmCs4
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 29, 2017
Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 29, 2017
Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office.
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/RepLynnJenkins/status/880433829856542721
https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/880452357653282816
This has to stop – we all have a job – 3 branches of gov’t and media. We don’t have to get along, but we must show respect and civility.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) June 29, 2017
And for good measure, here is the response from First Lady Melania Trump. Recall that she was going to make a campaign against cyberbullying her White House project.
.@StephGrisham45: "As the First Lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder."
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) June 29, 2017
No one should really be all that surprised by any of this. This is who a minority of the country elected. And he let us all know the rancidness of his character throughout his campaign. He’s a misogynist, racist, ignorant, bullying, narcissistic, pussy-grabbing, wannabe dictator. He’s also a corrupt, anti-constitution, Russian collaborating traitor. And for all of these substantive criticisms that warrant his immediate impeachment, he would likely only reply that I’m a goofy nobody with bad hair.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
Just to be clear, the statement attributed to Melania Trump was part of the brief prepared remarks dutifully recited by her at a rally in Wisconsin on the eve of the primary in 2016.
To give you an idea of the tenor of the remarks, she also said “He’s hard worker, he’s kind. He has a great heart. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great negotiator. He’s telling the truth. He’s a great leader. He’s fair.”
Yep that’s him, all right! Probably helpful, thrifty, brave and cheerful too, like in the scout pledge.
But at any rate, it is most definitely not a “response” to her husband’s obnoxious twit of yesterday, or any other instance of his poor impulse control.
No. That’s a new response from her spokesman.
As I said, that was not a response from Melania to Trump’s tweet.
It was a response from Stephanie Grisham, her Comms director, to Trump’s tweet.
Contained within Stephanie’s response is what Melania said in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over a year ago, at a campaign rally on the eve of the primary, on Apr 4 2016.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/melania-stumps-donald-trump-he-will-punch-back-10-times-n550641
Most importantly, Mark, the fact that this is not Melania’s response, but rather a lame attempt by the White House to create one, highlights the fact that she has simply declined to respond at all to the extraordinarily offensive tweet of her sexist pig husband, and I believe that to be the story here.
Traitor trump is note disgusting than mere words can adequately convey. He debases the office he stole with Russian assistance. His hatred of women fuels his delusions. Trump is a pathetic morbidly obese old man. And he’s probably not wealthy.
Trump being Trump as usual.
So, have Joe Scarborough and Mika Sebastian realized by now that Trump would turn around and bite anyone he wishes as long as he thinks they “attacked” him?
Well maybe, they obviously did not know back in the day when they were falling to their knees in praise of him.
This is Trump returning the favor for that too.