Donald Trump has launched a vicious attack on a female news anchor, calling her “low IQ” and claiming to have seen her “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”
Trump took aim at Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s popular programme Morning Joe.
She hosts the show with fiancee Joe Scarborough, whom he also attacked in a blistering string of furious tweets.
The President, who is under criminal investigation for obstruction of justice, tweeted: “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 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!”
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Trump has had an up and down relationship with the Morning Joe team - and had appeared on the show regularly until earlier this year.
It had been reported that President Trump had offered to officiate at the couple’s wedding.
A spokesperson for MSNBC said: “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.”
The tweets provoked outrage from both sides of the political aisle - with prominent Republican Lindsey Graham tweeting: “Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.”
But Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders leaped to his defence.
She said: "This is a president who fights fire with fire."
A spokesperson for First Lady Melania Trump said: “As First Lady has stated publicly...when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder."
Melania Trump is currently spearheading a national campaign against cyber bullying.
