MSNBC's "Morning Joe" enjoyed a huge spike in viewership after President Donald Trump tweeted attacks against co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski last week.
Reaching 1.7 million viewers on Friday, the show experienced its highest viewership ever and garnered a 70 percent jump compared to the second quarter of 2017. "Morning Joe" was the most watched morning show in cable news in both total viewership and in the key 25-54 demographic age group on Friday.
During the second quarter of 2017, "Morning Joe" averaged 997,000 total viewers. The Thursday morning before Trump's tweets, the show had 955,000 in total viewers and 210,000 in the 25-54 age group, according to The Wrap.
Trump's tweets personally attacked the co-hosts and claimed Brzezinski was bleeding from a facelift during one of their meetings. The posts attracted widespread media and political criticism.
"It;s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job," an MSNBC spokesperson said in response.
On Friday, Scarborough and Brzezinski, who are engaged, postponed their vacations to be guests on their own show and discuss the saga.
On the show, frequent panelist Donny Deutsch defended Brzezinski and had some choice words of his own, calling the president "physically disgusting to look at."
"He picked the wrong schoolyard to come into," Deutsch said. "I have to tell you this. I'm not an employee of NBC so I'm going to go thug here. I'm sorry. Because Mika is a friend of ours. She's a good woman. She's a great mom and he's a pig. He's a vulgar pig."