“Morning Joe” is hardly the only recipient of Twitter attacks from Donald Trump. But this morning, the shots from The Donald came thick and fast, with a personal edge, describing hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski as clowns and calling Brzezinski Scarborough’s “very insecure long-time girlfriend.”
Tried watching low-rated @Morning_Joe this morning, unwatchable! @morningmika is off the wall, a neurotic and not very bright mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
Yet as recently as six months ago, the “Morning Joe” hosts were being accused of going soft on the candidate because of a cozy relationship. So when did it all go bad?
Here’s a timeline of their relationship:
February 2016:
CNN reports on concerns at MSNBC parent company NBC Universal over the seemingly closeness between Republican presidential candidate and the two “Morning Joe” hosts.
March 2016:
Scarborough further addresses whether he is pro-Trump on March 1.
May 2016:
A mere two days after appearing on “Morning Joe” to discuss his Indiana primary win, Trump appears to have suffered a change of heart after Scarborough says on-air that he won’t be voting for Trump and brings up the idea of a third-party candidate, prompting this response:
Joe Scarborough initially endorsed Jeb Bush and Jeb crashed, then John Kasich and that didn’t work. Not much power or insight!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2016
June 2016:
First, Trump objects to what Brzezinski says on-air on June 3 about the GOP establishment supporting Trump.
I don’t watch or do @Morning_Joe anymore. Small audience, low ratings! I hear Mika has gone wild with hate. Joe is Joe. They lost their way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2016
On June 8, Trump once again goes off on “Morning Joe,” this time after Scarborough — and indeed, Brzezinski and two other panelists — deems Trump’s comments about a judge of Mexican descent “completely racist” on the June 6 episode.
Nobody is watching @Morning_Joe anymore. Gone off the deep end – bad ratings. You won’t believe what I am watching now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2016
August 2016:
Scarborough kicks the hornet’s nest on Aug. 3 by relating an anecdote he heard from one of Trump’s foreign policy advisors that Trump had asked three times why the U.S. couldn’t use nuclear weapons. That sets off a fresh round of Twitter barbs.
Just 18 days later, Trump manages to mention the show without a pejorative attached on Aug. 21. (Trump’s wrath falls instead on former ad man Donny Deutsch, whose recent USA comedy “Donny!” only lasted one season.)
I heard that @Morning_Joe was very nice on Friday but that little Donny D, a big failure in TV (& someone I helped), was nasty. Irrelevant!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
Not 12 hours later, Trump goes after the “Morning Joe” co-hosts and accuses them of a secret romantic relationship. The Donald giveth, and the Donald taketh away.