By Michael M. Grynbaum, Media, June 29, 2017<\/p>\n
President Trump faced a swift and bipartisan backlash on Thursday after he assailed the television host Mika Brzezinski in unusually personal and vulgar terms, the latest of a string of escalating attacks by the president on the national news media.<\/p>\n
Shortly before 9 a.m., as Ms. Brzezinski\u2019s MSNBC show \u201cMorning Joe\u201d was ending, Mr. Trump used Twitter to taunt Ms. Brzezinski and her co-host, Joe Scarborough<\/a>, referring to them as \u201clow I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe\u201d and describing a meeting with Ms. Brzezinski in which, he said, \u201cshe was bleeding badly from a face-lift.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump is famed for his online provocations, but the coarseness of his remark about Ms. Brzezinski \u2014 coming from a president who has faced criticism for his attitudes toward women \u2014 drew immediate denunciations in the political world, including from prominent members of his own party.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I don\u2019t see that as an appropriate comment,\u201d the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, told reporters on Capitol Hill. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican whose vote is considered critical to the success of Mr. Trump\u2019s health care plan, wrote on Twitter<\/a>, \u201cThis has to stop.\u201d She said, \u201cWe don\u2019t have to get along, but we must show respect and civility.\u201d<\/p>\n Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, also a Republican, wrote on Twitter<\/a>, \u201cMr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.\u201d<\/p>\n The president has fumed for weeks about his coverage on \u201cMorning Joe,\u201d where Mr. Scarborough and Ms. Brzezinski have been increasingly blistering in their commentary about the Trump administration. They have openly questioned Mr. Trump\u2019s mental state, comments that particularly upset the president, according to a senior administration official.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has used the \u201cpsycho\u201d moniker in private to describe Mr. Scarborough, and he views the \u201cMorning Joe\u201d criticism as a personal betrayal, the official said. Until recently, the president and the co-hosts had a relatively friendly relationship. Mr. Scarborough and Ms. Brzezinski visited Mr. Trump\u2019s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, this past New Year\u2019s.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Ms. Brzezinski responded to the president\u2019s comments by posting a photograph on Twitter<\/a> of a box of Cheerios with the words, \u201cMade For Little Hands.\u201d The tweet referred to a longstanding insult against Mr. Trump referring to the size of his hands. In a statement, MSNBC said, \u201cIt\u2019s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, defended Mr. Trump\u2019s tweets in an interview on Fox News.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that the president has ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn\u2019t push back,\u201d she told the Fox anchor Bill Hemmer. \u201cThis is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media, and the liberal elites within the media.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut is that necessary?\u201d Mr. Hemmer asked, referring to the graphic nature of Mr. Trump\u2019s remark about Ms. Brzezinski.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what\u2019s necessary is to push back against unnecessary attacks on the president,\u201d Ms. Sanders replied.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump also received a boost from one of his stalwart defenders, Sean Hannity of Fox News, who suggested er that the president\u2019s remarks about Mr. Scarborough were justified. \u201cMaybe liberal Joe should stop calling the @POTUS a schmuck, a liar, a thug and mentally unhinged,\u201d Mr. Hannity wrote on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has launched broadsides this week against several of the country\u2019s major television networks and newspapers, accusing the news media of creating \u201cfake news\u201d and of unfairly fixating on his campaign\u2019s links to Russian officials. At a televised White House briefing, Ms. Sanders castigated CNN and said that Americans \u201cdeserve something better\u201d from the country\u2019s media.<\/p>\n A retraction by CNN of a report about one of Mr. Trump\u2019s associates \u2014 followed by the resignations of three CNN journalists who worked on the story \u2014 has buoyed Mr. Trump and his team. The president has seized on<\/a> the <\/a>CNN report<\/a> as evidence that the establishment news media is biased against him, and he has expanded his criticisms to encompass other news organizations including The New York Times and The Washington Post.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s comment about Ms. Brzezinski echoed a contentious remark that he made about another female television anchor, Megyn Kelly, during last year\u2019s presidential campaign. \u201cYou could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,\u201d Mr. Trump said<\/a>, a remark that was widely seen as a reference to menstruation and drew rebukes from women\u2019s groups.<\/p>\n