MSNBC’s Scarborough backs CNN in Trump feud

“Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough on Monday went after President Trump for attacking CNN over the weekend and called on members of both major parties to speak out.

“This is a challenge to the First Amendment of the United States and a free press and Republicans and Democrats and independents need to all speak up and speak out. There are some things that we have to be united on,” Scarborough, a frequent critic of the president, said on MSNBC.

“When he attacks the free press, when he attacks an independent judiciary, when he attacks our constitutional republic, we’ve got to speak out together,” he added.

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Trump on Saturday ripped CNN while praising Fox News, saying the conservative-leaning network is “more important in the United States than CNN.” He added that CNN represents the country “poorly” to the rest of the world.

CNN shot back, tweeting that it’s Trump’s job to represent the U.S. to the world. CNN journalists have in recent days shared accounts of colleagues who have put themselves in danger or been physically harmed while reporting.

Trump has frequently gone after CNN since he began his candidacy for president. He has at various times dubbed it “fake news” or the “Clinton News Network.”

Trump has also shown a preference for Fox News, giving the network more than a dozen interviews since taking office.

Trump last appeared on another major network in May, when he was interviewed by NBC’s Lester Holt after firing then-FBI Director James Comey.

He has not appeared on CNN since August 2016.