It’s not unusual for viewers of Morning Joe to hear people attack President Trump. However, the crew of the MSNBC weekday series took the discussion to a new low on Thursday, when co-host Joe Scarborough and contributor John Heilemann criticized the GOP occupant of the White House on his reaction to rumors about the First Lady’s health.
Scarborough and Heilemann claimed Trump was in no position to complain about such rumors and implied that, since the President lashes out at times, he’s just like an “asinine” “scumbag.” The clash began on Wednesday, when the President tweeted:
The Fake News Media has been so unfair, and vicious, to my wife and our great First Lady, Melania.
During her recovery from surgery, they reported everything from near death, to face lift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse. All Fake, she is doing really well!
Co-host Mika Brzezinski began the discussion by stating: “Melania Trump makes an appearance after a long absence, and the President had some interesting tweets about that.”
“My God,” she continued while sounding surprised. “He was horrified at the thought that people were wondering” about her health.
Heilemann then noted: “And Scarborough had an interesting riposte” on the subject.
“I liked it,” the female co-host stated before Heilemann added: “We all did.”
Scarborough next joined in by asserting: “It was shocking. I mean, Donald Trump is correct. I mean, John, who in the world would be so cruel, so hateful -- ?”
“Right,” Heilemann agreed.
“Would be so despicable, so utterly lacking in character to suggest -- to make something up about someone having a face lift for the sole purposes of trying to damage or humiliate them?” the co-host asked.
“I know,” he continued, “it's nice to finally be able to agree with the President, this guy I have known for over 10, 11, 12 years; he's in the White House.”
“Finally, he says something I agree with,” Scarborough added. “Yes, you would have to be utterly despicable, a classless man to say that about a woman.”
“Total scumbag. Grotesque,” Heilemann stated. “You have to be the most repulsive, disgraceful, ridiculous, asinine person in the world.”
Fellow contributor Elise Jordan then chimed in by adding to the list of negative superlatives: “Just a petty, low form of life.”
“Here is the thing, Joe,” Heilemann noted, “I'd like to ask this question, beyond the hypocrisy of it given the history we are all alluding to in a not particularly veiled way, it's also kind of amazing because I don't know that anybody, in any respectable publication or anyone of note on Twitter, actually suggested that about Melania Trump.”
However, this isn’t the first time someone on the Morning Joe program used superlatives to slam an occupant of the White House.
In June of 2011, MSNBC suspended Senior Political Analyst Mark Halperin after he called President Barack Obama “a dick.”
A few hours later, the network issued a statement regarding the incident:
Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the president, the White House and all of our viewers.
We strive for a high level of discourse, and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.
Halperin described that action as “totally appropriate,” and he offered “a heartfelt and profound apology to the president, to my MSNBC colleagues and to the viewers.”
Will that liberal cable network also punish Scarborough and Heilemann for their use of colorful language? Only time will tell, but the odds on that happening again seem very slim.
As NewsBusters previously reported, five people in the “mainstream media” asserted in early June that the First Lady’s “absence” was a result of abuse from the GOP president – even though they offered no proof of that claim.
From May 30 to June 5, CNN aired more than two dozen articles inviting speculation and gossip about the First Lady’s mysterious “disappearance” even though she was said to be recuperating from kidney surgery.
Apparently, no topic is out of bounds for the liberals in the press, and they are willing to use anything they can in the fading hope that they can bring down the Republican President. Sadly, they only confirm the concept that they are actually far from the mainstream they claim to represent.
See transcript of the exchange below. It's clear that Scarborough and Heilemann are saying, since Trump lashes out, he's just like a "disgraceful" "scumbag." Click "expand" to read more.
Morning Joe
6/7/18
8:02MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Melania Trump makes an appearance after a long absense. He was horrified by the fact people were wondering. I like it.
JOHN HEILEMANN: And Scarborough had an interesting riposte.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: John Heilemann, it was shocking. I mean, Donald Trump is correct, I mean, John, who in the world would be so cruel, so hateful --
JOHN HEILEMANN: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: Would be so despicable, so utterly lacking in character to suggest -- to make something up about someone having a facelift for the sole purposes of trying to damage or humiliate them? I know, it's nice to finally be able to agree with the President, this guy I have known for over ten, 11, 12 years, he's in the White House. Finally, he says something I agree with. Yes, you would have to be utterly despicable, a classless man to say that about a woman.
HEILEMANN: Total scumbag. Grotesque. You have to be the most repulsive, disgraceful, ridiculous, asinine person in the world.
SCARBOROUGH: I agree.
ELISE JORDAN: Just a petty, low form of life.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
JOHN HELIEMANN: Here is the thing, Joe. I'd like to ask this question, beyond the hypocrisy of it given the history we are all alluding to in a not particularly veiled way, it's also kind of amazing because I don't know that anybody, in any respectable publication or anyone of note on Twitter actually suggested that about Melania Trump.
