On Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough discussed the escalating Twitter war between Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — and did so in real-time, reading Trump’s tweets about their conversation on the air as he tweeted them.
Last Tuesday, Warren tweeted that
I'm going to fight my heart out to make sure @realDonaldTrump’s toxic stew of hatred & insecurity never reaches the White House.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 4, 2016
Three days later, Trump replied, writing that
I hope corrupt Hillary Clinton chooses goofy Elizabeth Warren as her running mate. I will defeat them both.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2016
Warren was unimpressed both the sentiments expressed and the time it took to express them:
I called out @realDonaldTrump on Tuesday. 45 million saw it. He's so confident about his "counter punch" he waited until Friday night. Lame.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
“Goofy,” @realDonaldTrump? For a guy with "the best words" that’s a pretty lame nickname. Weak!
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
Trump replied, as he did when President Obama was elected, by questioning her lineage:
Let’s properly check goofy Elizabeth Warren’s records to see if she is Native American. I say she’s a fraud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2016
Warren reminded everyone of this:
We saw what happened when birthers like @realDonaldTrump attacked @BarackObama. They lost big. American voters knew better.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
And then continued swinging:
.@realDonaldTrump spews insults and lies because he can’t have an honest conversation about his dangerous vision for America.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
But here's the thing. You can beat a bully — not by tucking tail and running, but by holding your ground.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
If you think recycling Scott Brown's hate-filled attacks on my family is going to shut me up, @realDonaldTrump, think again buddy. Weak.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
Whatever @realDonaldTrump says, we won't shut up. We won't back down. This election is too important, & he won’t step foot in White House.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
No, @realDonaldTrump – your racism, sexism & xenophobia doesn't drive me nuts. It makes me sick. And I'm not alone.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 7, 2016
It’s fairly obvious to anyone who knows about argument that Warren demolished those Trump leveled against her, but in the interest of performing objectivity, the Morning Joe panel characterized the war of words as “Playground taunts between Trump and Warren,” and devoted a segment to it.
The only person who seemed to understand how thoroughly Warren humiliated Trump was actually Donald Trump, who tweeted during their discussion that — despite all the pretense of fairness and balance the panel showed him — wrote:
Wow, I hear @Morning_Joe has gone really hostile ever since I said I won't do or watch the show anymore.They misrepresent my positions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2016
Scarborough read that tweet live, on air, mere seconds after Trump posted it, saying “You know what? He watches! He watches!” He then directly addressed Trump saying, “it’s funny when you say you don’t watch this show — I think it’s cute.”
He later criticized Trump for “still, at a time when he needs to grow and move into the general election … picking petty fights with people he shouldn’t be fighting.”
Watch the entire conversation below via MSNBC.
