MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough castigated Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) on Wednesday for his continued attacks against White House chief of staff John Kelly.
"I don't even know where to start with that. That is so outrageous," Scarborough said of Gutiérrez's comments. "Sometimes you just got to say you're sorry. Sometimes you just got to say I screwed up. That was just horrific."
Gutiérrez received widespread criticism last week after he called Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, a "hypocrite who is a disgrace to the uniform he used to wear." The Illinois Democrat added that Kelly "has no honor" because of his work in the Trump administration shortly after the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was made.
Scarborough responded to Gutiérrez's comments on Tuesday, saying they were "disgraceful, outrageous words used against a man who's given his entire life and his son to this country in service in uniform." Kelly's son was killed fighting in Afghanistan in 2010.
"He should be ashamed of himself and he should apologize, but he won't, because of the partisan, polarized nature of Washington, D.C.," columnist Mike Barnicle added.
Later on Tuesday, Gutiérrez doubled down on his criticism of Kelly.
"He's a politician, okay, not a general. I don't see a uniform. He's a politician who works for Donald Trump," Gutiérrez said at a at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute event. "A politician who didn't stand up when the president of the United States attacked a real war hero, John McCain."
The "Morning Joe" hosts on Wednesday castigated Gutiérrez again for his latest remarks.
"I think there are very strong feelings about President Trump, especially among Democrats. And some of them are very legitimate. And I just worry that within all this, we normalize horrific behavior on one side and not the other," Brzezinski said.
"What he's trying to say—" Brzezinski offered.
"It doesn't matter what he's trying to say," Scarborough interrupted. "He screwed up and he needs to apologize. It's disgraceful."
"And he is a general. Despite what Gutiérrez said he remains a general for life, a guy who gave 50 years, half a century to this country in the military, gave his service, who gave his son, lost his son to this country. I don't think he needs a lecture from Mr. Gutiérrez about honor and courage," Willie Geist said.