MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have questioned President Donald Trump‘s mental fitness after he described them as “Psycho Joe” and “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” on Twitter, adding that Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at Mar-a-Lago around New Year’s Eve time.
In a scathing op-ed penned for the Washington Post, the Morning Joe hosts described the President’s “obsession” with Morning Joe as “unhealthy”. “We are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show,” they wrote. “Despite his constant claims that he no longer watches the show, the President’s closest advisers tell us otherwise.”
In the piece, Scarborough and Brzezinski rejected Trump’s claim that the pair “insisted” on joining him in Mar-a-Lago three nights in a row. “That is false. He also claimed that he refused to see us. That is laughable,” they wrote.
The hosts said the President invited them to a dinner on Dec. 30, which only Scarborough attended. The pair said they then agreed to visit the President and Melania Trump in Mar-a-Lago together the next day, before “politely declin[ing] his repeated invitations to attend a New Year’s Eve party.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski also contradicted Trump’s claim that Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift.” “That is also a lie,” they wrote. “Putting aside Mr. Trump’s never-ending obsession with women’s blood, Mika and her face were perfectly intact, as pictures from that night reveal.” The pair added that Brzezinski has “never had a face-lift.”
The President’s tweets – which are considered official presidential statements – sparked an immediate backlash after they were posted Thursday, even by members of his own party. However, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the comments, telling reporters Thursday: “When [Trump] gets attacked he’s going to hit back. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that he fights fire with fire.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Where Trump 2.0 Will Differ From 1.0
- How Elon Musk Became a Kingmaker
- The Power—And Limits—of Peer Support
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Write to Kate Samuelson at kate.samuelson@time.com