Political pundit Joe Scarborough lashed out at journalists covering President-Elect Donald Trump for how they characterized his attendance at Trump’s New Year’s Eve party on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
After engaging in a public argument with journalists on Twitter, Scarborough told CNN’s Dylan Byers that he’s being picked on by the media only because it was Trump with whom he had a meeting.
On Sunday and Monday, Scarborough sent a flurry of tweets criticizing several journalists who claimed he and his MSNBC co-host, Mika Brzezinski had ‘partied’ with Trump.
Scarborough insisted they were at the party to land an inauguration interview.
‘I am sick and tired of people misrepresenting me and making snide assumptions and giving readers false conclusions’, he told Byers.
The controversy began after New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman noted that Scarborough and Brzesinski were among the high-profile guests at Trump’s soiree.
Though Scarborough disputed the accuracy of the article, Haberman tweeted a photo of him talking to Trump at the party that an attendee sent her.
Scarborough immediately fired off a series of tweets accusing the Times of lying. His proof that he and Brzezinski didn’t attend the black-tie party was that they were in casual clothes and left before it started.
He said they were not even invited to the party.
‘Nothing that Mika and I did in setting up this meeting was any different than what all good reporters and news hosts try to do daily’, Scarborough wrote in a tweet.
He sparred with Haberman on Twitter, writing that she should have called him to confirm his attendance before publication.
But Scarborough’s biggest beef was with CBS News staffer Sopan Deb, who will soon be joining Haberman at the Times.
‘Morning Joe’s hosts partied with Trump last night at Mar-A-Lago. Last year, Trump publicly thanked them for support’ Deb wrote in a tweet.
Scarborough’s rebuttal: ‘Last year I said Trump’s campaign was racist, xenophobic and disqualifying. But be snide while making facts up. Partied? Not even close’.
During the presidential campaign, Scarborough was initially critical of Trump on his show and said he didn’t vote for the president-elect in the primary or general election.
Scarborough said many journalists have personal relationships with politicians and never come under scrutiny, and that the only reason he has been targeted is because the politician in this case is Trump.
Source: Daily Mail UK
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