MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough started off his new year by getting in another Twitter beef.
Videos by Rare
Sopan Deb, a reporter soon to join the New York Times, reported that Scarborough and “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski were among attendees at a New Year’s Eve party hosted at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/815657545259958272
Scarborough, who himself has a very rocky relationship with Trump, responded to Deb’s claim:
Partied? You're very good at pushing fake news. You should write for CNN. Apparently making up facts is fine if you're writing about us. https://t.co/mCe0EYghRB
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 1, 2017
RELATED: Joe Scarborough and Kellyanne Conway had a Twitter fight, and this is how it ended
The Twitter beef hit its second day on Monday:
Oh, you're back. What's your lie of the day? https://t.co/HAh9BBVwpP
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
Despite the correction, Deb tweeted a picture of Trump and Scarborough talking, without context, saying that the party looked like a good location for an interview between the two:
https://twitter.com/sopandeb/status/815935254624083968
Scarborough responded, quite peeved:
You get caught lying then double down and triple down. You know the truth and yet you just can't stop sending out snide tweets. Wow. https://t.co/HAh9BBDVyh
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
“You get caught lying then double down and triple down. You know the truth and yet you just can’t stop sending out snide tweets. Wow,” he retorted. Both Deb and Scarborough were quite defensive throughout the exchange.
While this was happening, Scarborough was also responding to New York Times presidential campaign correspondent Maggie Haberman, who insisted that the picture confirmed the story’s details. All the while, Scarborough continued to tell Haberman that the New York Times should have called to confirm the details of the picture, especially as he was not invited to the party, did not attend and was not dressed for the occasion. In fact, Scarborough and Brzezinski arrived to the resort in casual clothes in an attempt to set up an interview with Trump:
More pic.twitter.com/R2j9uIvAU7
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 2, 2017
More: Maggie Haberman did not try to contact me before putting me in a story saying I was a "reveler" at Trump's NYE party. I was not. https://t.co/8AxPlkjZpH
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
Yes Michael. As stated yesterday, security took us to Trump, he introduced us to a 10 yr old boy, and we walked upstairs a minute later. https://t.co/gAF5l20XkT
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd weighed in:
It really stinks to watch others continue help ruin the reputation of your industry. But fighting each other about only hurts the democracy
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) January 2, 2017
“It really stinks to watch others continue help ruin the reputation of your industry. But fighting each other about only hurts the democracy,” he warned.
Scarborough agreed with Todd:
Yes. I find that people misrepresenting others and lying is indeed corrosive. I know you agree with me that facts matter. https://t.co/qnvDt6xwg6
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
“Yes. I find that people misrepresenting others and lying is indeed corrosive. I know you agree with me that facts matter,” Scarborough replied.
RELATED: A website is threatening to sue the Washington Post over being labeled “fake news” by the paper
For those trying to keep up with the fiasco, the situation appears to be that Scarborough and Brzezinski met Trump before the party in casual clothes to try to set up an interview. The pair left before the festivities began and Deb incorrectly classified their presence without calling either to confirm their presence. Rather than update the article, Deb and other stuck with the original story because of a picture without context.
Scarborough later tweeted out a definition of “fake news,” excerpted from a Hot Air article written by conservative blogger Ed Morrissey:
"Deb reported something that wasn’t true because it fit his own preconceived notions. That is 'fake news'" https://t.co/Iaa6O7pU2k
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 2, 2017
(H/T The Hill)