President Trump Calls 'Morning Joe' Hosts 'Psycho,' 'Low IQ'

WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump on Thursday morning unleashed a tirade of insults on the hosts of "Morning Joe," a pair he was once publicly very friendly with.

"I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore)," he wrote. "Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came 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!"

Pelosi: Trump's Tweets 'Below Dignity' Of The Office

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the MSNBC hosts who recently announced their engagement, were sometimes criticized during the campaign for having an excessively cozy relationship with Trump. Since then, however, they have become fiercely critical of his presidency and his policies. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Head of PR for NBC News Mark Kornblau tweeted in response: "Never imagined a day when I would think to myself, 'it is beneath my dignity to respond to the President of the United States.'" The department also issued the following tweet:

Over the course of the day, two tweets surfaced that seemed to disprove the president's statement.

CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted a photo of Brzezinski at Trump's New Year's Eve party clearly not bleeding and a tweet Maggie Haberman of the New York Times surfaced from a couple of days after the party surfaced with a photo of the two hosts talking with Trump at the party,

As for the rating issue, Newser notes, "Morning Joe" has performed well in the ratings in recent months, bringing in around 1 million viewers and consistently outperforming its rival "New Day."

Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee of California put the responsibility for addressing the uncivil attack on Republicans: "I want my GOP colleagues to explain to my 3 granddaughters why they think these viciously sexist comments are acceptable from our President," she tweeted.

But it wasn't only Democrats decrying the remarks. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska wrote on Twitter: "Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office." South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed: "Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America."

"This is not okay," tweeted Kansas Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins. "As a female in politics I am often criticized for my looks. We should be working to empower women."

CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond reported that Melania Trump's spokeswoman said: "As the First Lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder."

Melania Trump has previously said she wanted to work on an anti-cyberbullying campaign as first lady.

Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images