MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-anchor Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday denounced the “pathetic politicians” who don’t stand up to what she called President Trump’s racism after the president lambasted the program in an early-morning tweet.
Trump decried the MSNBC program that has repeatedly criticized his administration, claiming that people were “tired of hearing Fake News delivered with an anger.”
Brzezinski responded to the comments on-air, saying that Trump “really ought to find something else to do in the morning.”
“It’s just not healthy,” she added. “He’s saying that there’s anger on the show. My anger? No, I’m not angry. Don’t worry, Donald, I’m not angry. I’m sad and disgusted when pathetic politicians don’t stand up to your racism. Your racism. They’re too afraid to. That’s sad and that’s unbelievably pathetic to watch. And it’s really bad for our country.”
“Make sure you understand the emotion you’re seeing here. It’s really sad,” she continued, before again knocking lawmakers that she said “suck up” to the president.
The comments from Brzezinski came as Trump continued to ramp up his attacks against Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and the Baltimore-area district he represents. Trump has called Cummings a “brutal bully” and his district a “rodent infested mess.”
Many Democratic lawmakers derided the remarks as racist.
Brzezinski and her husband and co-host, Joe Scarborough, have been outspoken opponents of Trump and his administration throughout his time in the White House.
Brzezinski earlier this month invoked her father, a Polish American who served as the national security adviser in President Carter’s administration, while condemning a “send her back” chant that Trump presided over at a North Carolina campaign rally.
Rally attendees chanted the phrase as Trump lashed out at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Somalian refugee who arrived in the U.S. as a child. Trump has since said that he disagreed with the chant.
“Let me just tell you, we’re not just at a dangerous place,” she said on “Morning Joe” at the time. “We’re at a place where things are boiling over. And this president is promulgating racism and violence.”