GOP senators: Trump attack on MSNBC hosts ‘beneath the dignity’ of his office

At least three GOP senators on Twitter assailed President Trump’s Thursday morning attack on the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” saying the insults were “beneath the dignity” of the office of the president.

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Susan Collins (Maine) joined a loud chorus on social media denouncing the president’s latest tweets.

Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 29, 2017

Please just stop. This isn’t normal and it’s beneath the dignity of your office.

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 29, 2017

This has to stop – we all have a job – 3 branches of gov’t and media. We don’t have to get along, but we must show respect and civility.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) June 29, 2017

Trump attacked “Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough in a pair of tweets, accusing Brzezinski of “bleeding badly from a face-lift” while she and Scarborough were visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in December.

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

{mosads}

The tweets were the latest in a series of attacks launched by Trump this week on several mainstream media outlets, including CNN, ABC, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

But the graphic claim that Brzezinski had undergone plastic surgery immediately prompted fierce criticism because of the personal and crude nature of the attack.

A spokesman for NBC News responded to Trump’s attack shortly afterwards, writing on Twitter that “‘it is beneath my dignity to respond to the President of the United States.'”

Never imagined a day when I would think to myself, “it is beneath my dignity to respond to the President of the United States.”

— Mark Kornblau (@MarkKornblau) June 29, 2017