President Trump said that Mika Brzezinski’s face was “bleeding” when he saw her around New Year’s Eve. But a photo taken of the journalist that night appears to cast doubt on his statement.
On Thursday morning, the president took to Twitter to bash Brzezinski, noting that she and her “Morning Joe” cohost (and fiance) Joe Scarborough had spent time at Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, at the end of the year. Trump went on to say Brzezinski had a “low IQ,” called her “crazy,” and claimed that when he saw her in Florida, she had been “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”
Trump also tweeted that Scarborough and Brzezinski “insisted on joining me” at Mar-a-Lago, adding, “I said no!”
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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
However, photos that have surfaced from Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at the ritzy resort appear to prove both of those statements wrong.
CNN host Brian Stelter tweeted a close-up shot of Brzezinski from the night in question — a photo in which her face was not, in fact, bleeding.
For the record, this is a picture of @MorningMika at Mar-a-Lago at the time Trump is claiming she was "bleeding badly." pic.twitter.com/NJgioOD3Va
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 29, 2017
Stelter noted that “Trump’s tweets were offensive, but people close to ‘Morning Joe’ would also like to note that they were inaccurate.”
thanks. trump's tweets were offensive, but people close to "morning joe" would also like to note that they were inaccurate. both are true
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 29, 2017
Additionally, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman had also tweeted a photo in early January of Brzezinski and Scarborough speaking with Trump at the party.
More pic.twitter.com/R2j9uIvAU7
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 2, 2017
In a statement, a spokesperson for MSNBC said, “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying, and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.”
Trump’s tweet was widely denounced Thursday by both Republicans and Democrats alike.