MSNBC's Morning Joe panelists blasted Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) Tuesday for his personal attacks on White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, calling his remarks "disgraceful" and saying he should be ashamed of himself.
Gutiérrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, claimed last week Kelly went back on his word to protect DACA while serving as Secretary of Homeland Security. Despite never having served in the military, he ripped into the retired Marine general and Gold Star father in a statement as a "disgrace to the uniform."
"General Kelly is a hypocrite who is a disgrace to the uniform he used to wear," Gutiérrez said after DACA was canceled by the Trump administration. "He has no honor and should be drummed out of the White House along with the white supremacists and those enabling the President’s actions by ‘just following orders.’"
Host Joe Scarborough noted he liked Gutiérrez personally but, after co-host Mika Brzezinski summarized the saga, he asked, "Where do we begin?"
"He should be ashamed of himself," columnist Mike Barnicle said.
"Disgraceful, outrageous words used against a man who's given his entire life and his son to this country in service in uniform," Scarborough said.
"He should be ashamed of himself, and he should apologize, but he won't, because of the partisan, polarized nature of Washington, D.C.," Barnicle said.
Kelly responded to Gutiérrez's attacks on Sunday, saying Congress had done nothing to help so-called "Dreamers" but adding he would not exchange personal insults with the congressman.
Barnicle said Kelly was "absolutely right" to slam Congress for not getting anything done on DACA.
"That's [Gutiérrez's] retort? Please. Stop it," Barnicle said.
For his part, Gutiérrez stood by his statement in subsequent interviews, saying Kelly was "not a general today" but a politician who served President Donald Trump's "racist policies."