President Trump’s morning tweet that “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face lift” the last time he saw her irked House GOP lawmakers, who were preparing to vote Thursday on two immigration bills.
{mosads}Asked if the president’s attack on the “Morning Joe” co-hosts was a distraction, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga) noted, “I’m answering your question about it,” before adding, “I think it’s inappropriate, it’s not something I would do.”
Collins, who is vice chairman of the House GOP conference, said he would have preferred to discuss the bills set for floor votes — Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which Department of Homeland Security chief John Kelly said will help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents uphold existing immigration laws.
Privately, aides questioned whether the president used the tweet as a diversionary tactic to direct attention away from the Senate GOP’s intraparty bickering over its healthcare bill.
Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) also questioned the wisdom of President Trump’s tweets.
“I don’t know if it is a strategy or not, but I prefer to just keep it on the policy always — the personal stuff, I don’t want everybody hitting me personally,” Brat said in an interview with The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper.