ABC News(NEW YORK) — MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough co-penned an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post on Friday in response to President Donald Trump’s Twitter attacks against them in which they question his mental state and whether he’s fit to serve.
“President Trump launched personal attacks against us Thursday, but our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal,” the show hosts write. “America’s leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president. We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show, Morning Joe.”
The hosts denied the claim made in Trump’s tweets on Thursday that he turned down Brzezinski and Scarborough’s requests to join him at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, and called his assertion that Brzezinski was bleeding from a facelift a “lie.”
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
In the editorial, Brzezinski and Scarborough said they “are seldom surprised by his posting nasty tweets about us.”
The two said they stand by their coverage of Trump and his presidency, and argue that the president has an “unhealthy obsession” with their show.
“We have known Mr. Trump for more than a decade and have some fond memories of our relationship together,” they write. “But that hasn’t stopped us from criticizing his abhorrent behavior or worrying about his fitness.”
They add that it is “disturbing” that Trump has continued “his unrelenting assault on women.”
“We were heartened to hear a number of Republican lawmakers call out Mr. Trump for his offensive words and can only hope that the women who are closest to him will follow their examples,” Brzezinski and Scarborough write, seemingly pointing towards first lady Melania Trump and Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
“It would be the height of hypocrisy to claim the mantle of women’s empowerment while allowing a family member to continue such abusive conduct,” the co-hosts continue.
On Thursday, the White House and the first lady stood by the president’s tweets.
“I think that the president is pushing back against people who attack him day after day after day,” Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Thursday’s press briefing. “The president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by people on that program.”
In a 2016 speech, Melania Trump said that as first lady she would fight cyberbullying, declaring that “our culture has gotten too mean and too rough.”
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