White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended President Donald Trump on Thursday when she was asked about his tweets that morning attacking MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
Trump began Thursday morning with a tweet touting a new sugar deal with Mexico before he posted two messages castigating Scarborough and Brzezinski.
I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked Sanders about the tweets and the reasoning behind them.
"Look, I don't think that the president's ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn't push back," Sanders said. "There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks, not just to him, but to frankly everyone around him. People on that show ["Morning Joe"] have personally attacked me many times."
"This is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media and the liberal elites within the media, or Hollywood," Sanders added.
Hemmer said that he understands her point but followed up by asking whether the tweets were necessary.
Sanders said that it was "necessary" for Trump to push back against "unnecessary" personal attacks.
"I've seen far worse things come out of that show," she continued. "Again, directed not just at the president, but everyone around him. Personal attacks. Mean, hateful attacks. This president isn't going to sit back and not push back."
Hemmer again pushed Sanders on the issue, saying that he has heard her and Trump make the same argument about fighting back against critics before asking whether things are getting more personal than they need to be.
"I think I have addressed that as much as I can in terms of the president," Sanders said. "Again, [Trump] isn't going to be somebody who is bullied and allows people himself and those around him to be personally attacked."
First Lady Melania Trump's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, released a statement on Trump's tweet.
First Lady Melania Trump's communications director @StephGrisham45 responds to this morning's tweets from the President: pic.twitter.com/mHYDt4Zd5T
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) June 29, 2017