With his cruel attack against Mika Brzezinski, Trump demonstrates that he can still go lower in his war against the American press

Yesterday, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough commented on the fact that President Trump has a fake, framed Time magazine cover of himself hanging in over half a dozen of his golf resorts. [Brzezinski, among other things, had said, “Nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day and destroying the country.”] Well, apparently that didn’t sit so well with our President, who, as we know, doesn’t like to be laughed at. And, this morning, he lashed out with the following on Twitter.

While a number of people, including high ranking Republicans, have come out and chastised Trump for his behavior, which is clearly unbefitting the office of president, some have come to his defense, saying that he had every right to hit back, seeing as how he felt threatened by the 5’5″ television host some 250 miles away, in New York. Through her spokesperson, Melania Trump, who has told us in the past the she intends to use her position as First Lady to advocate against cyberbullying, said “when her husband gets attacked,” he’s within his right to “punch back 10 times harder.” And White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders, after first saying that, “The President in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence,” which, by the way, we know for a fact isn’t true, added the following during a segment on Fox News.

“Look, 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 liberal media or liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else.

Huckabee also pretty much said… and I find this even more incredible… that the President of the United States doesn’t need to be a role model to the nation’s youth, as they have Jesus Christ to look up to. [Can you imagine if any of this was happening during Obama’s administration, when, as you’ll recall, the right was attacking him for “demeaning the office” by wearing short sleeve shirts in the Oval Office?]

But, yeah, that’s where we’re are in America right now. Our President is viciously attacking the media, and he’s being defended by those like Huckabee, who claim that he has every right to stand up against the bullying of the anti-American liberal elites, lying press, etc.

And I hope it never comes to pass, but I can’t help but think that we’re building toward something even worse, what with Republican members of Congress hitting those reporters that they can’t hide from, and people on the right wearing shirts with slogans like “Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required.” I mean, we’ve seen this before, in Nazi Germany, with the demonization of the “Lügenpresse,” or “lying press,” and one gets the sense that the same thing may be happening right now in America, as Trump attempts to suppress the truth of what’s actually going on, and both the language and actions of his supporters becomes more aggressive toward those journalists who are trying to get at the truth.

As for the language of the right becoming more violent, take for instance this recent quote by NRA head Wayne LaPierre… “Academic elites, political elites, and media elites,” he said. “These are America’s greatest domestic threats.” And, then, just yesterday, his organization put out the following call to (buy) arms.

I can’t believe we’ve allowed things to go this far. But this is the world we presently live in. This is the world we’re raising our children in… And we’ve got to stop it, whatever it takes. The future of not only our country, but humanity, hangs in the balance.

update: In a Washington Post op-ed this morning the hosts of Morning Joe suggest that Trump, prior to everything I noted above, had been threatening the release of a scandalous story about them in the National Enquirer if they didn’t tone down their criticism of him, pledge their loyalty, etc. And, now, the fight between them has moved to Twitter. [And, yes, I suspect this might be why, a month or so ago, the two hosts of the morning news program came out and publicly acknowledged their affair.]

update: And, guess what? The National Inquirer just posted this: “Joe & Mika: TV Couple’s Sleazy Cheating Scandal

update: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski discuss how Trump used the National Enquirer to blackmail them on MSNBC.

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35 Comments

  1. Iron Lung Larson
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 4:47 am | Permalink

    It is incredible that this is now acceptable behavior from a public servant.

  2. Max
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:00 am | Permalink

    I’m not surprised, but saddened that he has no respect whatsoever for the office he holds. The rumor is that the Washington Post has a particularly damning story proving collusion with Russia that they are sitting on. DT laying into the press is possibly his way of preparing for it. I’m not holding my breath, just what I’ve seen on Twitter.

  3. Jcp2
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:10 am | Permalink

    Having a grifter demean and debase the most important government position in America works perfectly for those whose ideology holds that government is useless to them.

  4. Kellyanne Conway
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:31 am | Permalink

    “As a woman who knows him and works for him, I’m very pleased at how he treats women in this workplace, the White House.”

  5. EOS
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:35 am | Permalink

    Yeah, a president using Twitter demeans and debases the office. Why can’t he hold to the same high standards as his predecessors? It was O.K. to use the office to sexually stimulate an young intern with a cigar. And it was O.K. to use the office to sell large amounts of weapons to Mexican gangs. These were acceptable behaviors of a public servant. But yeah, using Twitter to respond to media attacks is beyond the pale and must be stopped.

  6. Eel
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:54 am | Permalink

    FWIW, Trump also lied about the her face being bloody after plastic surgery. You can find photos of her from that night here.

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/06/29/this-what-mika-brzezinski-actually-looked-like-new-year-eve/qt560wmT6VucAiaoE4WiwK/story.html

  7. Kim
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 8:56 am | Permalink

    EOS, I know we’re not friends, but I have a piece of advice for you. You are on a sinking ship. Get off while you can.

  8. M
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 9:01 am | Permalink

    It would appear this isn’t the first time he’s threatened to use the National Enquirer in such a way.

    “Salma Hayek: I Denied Trump A Date, So He Planted A National Enquirer Story About My Height”

    On a Spanish-language radio show, the Clinton-supporting actor said Trump befriended her boyfriend to get her number, but when she denied his offer to go on a date, he had a story planted in the National Enquirer that he wouldn’t date her because she’s too short.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/salma-hayek-i-denied-trump-a-date-so-he-planted-a-national-e?utm_term=.cpPg09Dj9#.ps1AJ0KY0

  9. saramin
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 9:43 am | Permalink

    I find it utterly laughable that the wife of (now) the most infamous cyber-bully ever, wants to advocate against cyber-bullying.

  10. Jean Henry
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 9:47 am | Permalink

    Bill Clinton’s behavior was childish and reprehensible– especially in denial. That said, he was a competent leader (with whom I disagreed on many issues) and he never attacked his accusers or critics in anything like Trump mode. ‘That woman’ was as bad as it got. I’m no Bill C fan. I never liked him. I used to call him charming Billy in reference to a novel character equally slimy. And still, he at least can admit wrong doing eventually. He is useful to the world. He is civil and diplomatic. He’s not a crybaby, whining, school yard bully. comparing Bill to Trump is apples to a shit sandwich made on dried vomit bread with diarrhea mayonnaise.

  11. EOS
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 11:18 am | Permalink

    “‘That woman’ was as bad as it got. ” ???

    Juanita Broaddrick would probably disagree.

    Sure, Twitter is worse than rape.

  12. The Hill
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 11:55 am | Permalink

    Conway: Trump’s tweets on Brzezinski were “just joining in on the fun” http://hill.cm/Ditq0Ux

  13. The Hill
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 1:15 pm | Permalink

    Kushner told “Morning Joe” hosts to apologize to Trump or National Enquirer story would run: report http://hill.cm/6ohgV6c

  14. BrianB
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 5:16 pm | Permalink

    A friend of mine asked a pertinent question: “why is our president so obsessed with bleeding women?” All I could think of as answer was “because he’s a mysoginistic asshole.”

  15. BrianB
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 5:20 pm | Permalink

    Objects aren’t supposed to bleed.

  16. Maria Huffman
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 5:33 pm | Permalink

    Thiose tweets were rude as shit, but what really surprised me was that they visited him.

  17. Maria Huffman
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 5:43 pm | Permalink

    Mika and Joe really should not go visit him again. even in Florida. even in winter.

  18. Maria Huffman
    Posted June 30, 2017 at 6:35 pm | Permalink

    so in cAse AAPS board of ed is reading or others who think I am slow…my point is they were friends with him up until not that long ago, %#}{* grabbying video or not.

  19. Iron Lung Larson
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 12:06 am | Permalink

    Yeesh.

    Burn your house down, y’all.

  20. Maria Huffman
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 11:09 am | Permalink

    ikr

  21. Jean Henry
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 4:00 pm | Permalink

    PLAYED AGAIN–
    “Had Trump not tweeted yesterday about Brzezinski’s appearance, it’s a good bet that three stories would have dominated the headlines. The first is the woes of the Obamacare replacement effort in the U.S. Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had to delay a vote on the Republican proposal after facing an insurrection from his own members. The second is the announcement that the president will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he leaves Washington for Europe in July. The third would have been a powerful story in The Wall Street Journal linking Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, to a Republican effort to obtain allegedly Russian-hacked documents from Hillary Clinton’s private email server.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-mika-brzezinski-knew-162121289.html

  22. Jean Henry
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 4:01 pm | Permalink

    Maria– Any journalist worth his salt will try to gain access to a president who constantly dodges them. That’s their job.

  23. Jean Henry
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 4:15 pm | Permalink

    EOS– you are right. This is… chilling.

    In a Breitbart interview: “Broaddrick said that weeks after the alleged rape, she met Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser for Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton allegedly thanked her for “everything you are doing in Bill’s campaign.” As Broaddrick tells it, she tried to leave the event but Hillary Clinton grabbed her arm and told her, “Do you understand everything you do?” Broaddrick took that as a threat that implied she should keep quiet.”

    When people thank me for working on one of their projects, I always take it as a threat.

    I have little doubt that both Trump and Clinton most other presidents have taken advantage of their power to sexually abuse women. (We know Jefferson and Kennedy. W assaulted a friend of mine on private plane when she was in college. He was married at the time.) It’s estimated somewhere in the range of 25% of all men sexually abuse women at some point. There is a deep wound in masculinity. It’s pervasive. We don’t talk about it.

    A few men, however, ARE ritual repeat abusers of women throughout their lives. The pattern becomes evident. The common thread among mass shooters is a record of domestic violence. And an inflated ego and persistent sense of having been wrong.

    Among presidents, Trump is in fact uniquely pathological. He should never have been entrusted with the nations security.

  24. Jean Henry
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    *wronged not wrong

  25. Frosted Flakes
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 4:54 pm | Permalink

    Context and delivery matters. Drawing a conclusion based on the face value meaning is pointless.

  26. EOS
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 6:09 pm | Permalink

    Really? Your defense of Clinton is that 25% of all men are sexual abusers? Well then, since it’s a normative practice let’s stop prosecuting the offenders.

    The Feminists called. They want their pointy hat back.

  27. Maria Huffman
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 7:29 pm | Permalink

    In Florida? At his place? As if they couldn’t meet in NYC or Washington D.C. or Hoboken for that matter.

  28. Rat
    Posted July 1, 2017 at 8:21 pm | Permalink

    Following up on what Huckabee said, here’s something from the President: “In America, we don’t worship government – we worship God.”

  29. Posted July 1, 2017 at 9:19 pm | Permalink

    Trump also just confirmed that he’s not presidential, but “modern day presidential.”

  30. Iron Lung Larson
    Posted July 2, 2017 at 12:12 am | Permalink

    Why is this happening.

  31. Jean Henry
    Posted July 2, 2017 at 6:58 am | Permalink

    EOS– Ms Broaddrick up-ended any chance of prosecution via her 1999 sworn affidavit. “During the 1992 Presidential campaign there were unfounded rumors and stories circulated that Mr. Clinton had made unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late seventies. Newspaper and tabloid reporters hounded me and my family, seeking corroboration of these tales. I repeatedly denied the allegations and requested that my family’s privacy be respected. These allegations are untrue and I had hoped that they would no longer haunt me, or cause further disruption to my family.” Now she makes her living being a Clinton accuser.

    The systemic cultural issue of sexual abuse in this country can not be solved by the justice system. The system does not work well in crimes without a witness other than the victim. Accused rapists are rarely convicted, even the not famous ones. And false reports do happen (here is where I diverge from more ideological feminists). False reports of every crime happen. Presumption of innocence is too important a principle to give up. On the other hand, us pointy headed feminists have raised awareness about sexual assault to such a degree that the CDC shows sexual assault incidence (self-reports) are down by half since 1993. (Prosecutions are not up significantly) Those statistics I cited demonstrate a drop…

    If you, EOS, are interested in further reducing the incidence of sexual assault, here are the strategies the CDC has found effective. None of them are prosecutorial. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html

  32. EOS
    Posted July 2, 2017 at 7:47 am | Permalink

    Yes, and then she recanted her denial. She was sharing the hotel room with another woman who came back to the room and saw her torn nylons, bloody lip, and severe distress. Juanita related the rape to her and two others in a short time interval after it happened. I believe her and others who relate similar stories about Bill. I think the first step in stopping rapists includes not excusing their behavior and not condoning the assault as being “just sex”.

  33. Morbid Larson
    Posted July 2, 2017 at 9:30 am | Permalink

    None of this changes that Trump is a fucking idiot.

  34. Posted July 2, 2017 at 12:38 pm | Permalink

    Remember how Huckabee said a few days ago that Trump would never so much as suggest violence?

  35. Jean Henry
    Posted July 2, 2017 at 6:34 pm | Permalink

    I never said it was ‘just sex’ EOS. Now you are misquoting me… I would never say sexual assault is just sex. It is, by definition, just the opposite. I said it was extremely common. I have no position on whether or not Bill Clinton raped Ms Broaddrick. Or on whether Trump raped his ex-wife or a 13 years old, or abused any of the other women who have accused him. I was merely explaining why it was not prosecuted, since that was something you specifically objected to. It;s impossible to prosecute any crime when the victim has changed her story under oath multiple times.

    And Pete is right, no information about Bill Clinton’s private behavior has any bearing on how we should properly view Trump’s very public behavior.

    I hate bullshit gotcha politics on both sides. It’s absurd. ‘You’re the hypocrite.’ ‘No you are.’ If any person has not tripped over their own political ideals enough to know that we are all hypocrites, well then they were simply short on self-scrutiny.

    I don’t know how anyone can study and follow the bible and still freak out about someone else’s hypocrisy before examining their own. That’s kind of Christianity 101.
    “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

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