Copyright The Daily Beast
President Donald Trump spent part of his Tuesday morning stewing over MSNBC’s Morning Joe after he was mocked on air. The president, 79, revived a long-running feud with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, despite their past attempts to cozy up to him at Mar-a-Lago. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, shot back without missing a beat: “I say, there are reasons you might not want to vote for me, but let’s be honest about my politics. I’m a democratic socialist. No matter how many times President Trump calls me otherwise.” The panel also reacted to the death of former Vice President Dick Cheney. They described him as a rare Republican who “kept his bearings” during Donald Trump’s rise—and for warning that Trump “can never be trusted” while “many others” in the party “lost their way.” Scarborough said he lived his life in “three acts,” the third of which was to oppose Trump. “Of course, one of these Republicans, you know, was seen as a defender of democracy. When so many others lost their way, Dick Cheney kept his bearings after January the 6th, always kept his bearings when it came to Democratic norms,” he said. “And he was on the right side. I think most certainly Republicans from my era would believe, and I think we all should be grateful to him for that.” Interjecting, co-host Willie Geist added: “One of his last public acts was about a year ago, when he put out a statement saying, I’m going to be voting for Kamala Harris in this presidential election.” “Dick Cheney, Darth Vader, as you said, the face of the Republican Party in many ways in the Bush years,” he continued. “Said Donald Trump can never be trusted with power again, appearing with his daughter, Liz Cheney, of course, who was one of the most outspoken voices against the Trump administration.” Trump didn’t take kindly to the jabs. Hours later, he fired off a Truth Social post dripping with the familiar blend of wounded pride and TV obsession: “Wow! Joe Scarborough’s Television Ratings are really bad. They have gone, as they say, ‘down the tubes,’ as has the rest of MSNBC. It’s a beautiful thing to watch! President DJT.” The post fit nicely into Trump’s playbook—mock the ratings, declare victory, and remind everyone he’s watching cable news like a hawk. But the outburst also underscored how deeply Morning Joe still gets under his skin. Apparently, Mamdani does, too. The president has relentlessly attacked the 34-year-old since he announced his mayoral bid. At a White House dinner with tech CEOs in September, Trump weighed in on the race, telling reporters he “doesn’t like to see a communist become mayor.” He has repeated this refrain countless times. On Tuesday, he followed up by accusing Mamdani of being a “Jew hater” and said any Jewish person who votes for him is “stupid.”
