President Trump clashed with MSNBC personalities Tuesday morning as he went on a tear against the media and host Joe Scarborough in particular.
“Watched the first 5 minutes of poorly rated Morning Psycho on MSDNC just to see if he is as ‘nuts’ as people are saying. He’s worse. Such hatred and contempt! I used to do his show all the time before the 2016 election, then cut him off. Wasn’t worth the effort, his mind is shot!” Trump tweeted, referring to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program hosted by Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“It is amazing that I became President of the United States with such a totally corrupt and dishonest Lamestream Media going after me all day, and all night,” he continued. “Either I’m really good, far better than the Fake News wants to admit, or they don’t have nearly the power as once thought!”
The president went on to tout his own “ratings,” referring to his daily coronavirus task force briefings.
“I’ve had great “ratings” my whole life, there’s nothing unusual about that for me. The White House News Conference ratings are ‘through the roof'(Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale , @nytimes)but I don’t care about that,” Trump tweeted. “I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!”
The president has faced regular criticism for not only the nature of the daily briefings but his habit of touting his own ratings at a time of national crisis. Yet while the briefings often veer into political territory — with Trump using them to settle scores with the media and his political detractors — they also feature informative moments from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, who have tried to project a steady hand as the health experts leading the national response.
Meanwhile, minutes later, Scarborough replied on Twitter during his show, telling the president to “get to work.”
“Donald, thanks for being our most loyal viewer,” Scarborough tweeted. “Now please get to work. Over 40,000 Americans have died from the pandemic. America has the most gifted scientists, doctors and technology leaders. Please use them and take charge of testing so we can get America working again! #USA”
Minutes later, Brzezinski piled on.
“We are not interested in you. Promise! Many just want a leader who is not limp in his response to a deadly pandemic,” she tweeted. “So often the conversation is ABOUT you bc it appears you are reason for the slow weak unimpressive response to this pandemic. Sad trombone.”
The president has clashed with Scarborough and Brzezinski throughout his administration, despite having been close with Scarborough in years past.
Scarborough since emerged as one of Trump’s harshest critics in the mainstream media, attacking the president on a daily basis. Back in 2017, Scarborough – a former Republican congressman – announced he was leaving the GOP because the party supported Trump.
Last week, Scarborough said: “You can’t be conservative and support Donald Trump. Trumpists are even saying that now,” referencing the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
But Tuesday morning, the president fired back, tweeting: “96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you! This must also mean that, most importantly, we are doing a good (great) job in the handling of the Pandemic.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
