Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are no strangers to accusations that they are friendlier with Donald Trump than is journalistically ethical. But apparently those claims reached a breaking point with Scarborough on Sunday night when he slammed reporter Sopan Deb on Twitter after Deb claimed Scarborough had "partied" at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve.
It all started when Deb — formerly a Trump reporter with CBS, now a culture writer with The New York Times — tweeted this:
Scarborough replied on Twitter: "Partied? You're very good at pushing fake news. You should write for CNN. Apparently making up facts is fine if you're writing about us." Scarborough went on, adding: "One of the more entertaining aspects of media coverage of media is how so many who blast Trump for half truths attack us with half truths … Last year I said Trump's campaign was racist, xenophobic, and disqualifying. But be snide while making facts up. Partied? Not even close."
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To that last point, Deb jumped in to say:
Scarborough clarified: "I 'partied' last night by watching Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters with my kids. Then watched the Mariah Carey dumpster fire. Around 7pm, I had a preset meeting with PEOTUS before his party … The event was black tie. Both Mika and I were in casual clothes, did not attend the party, and left before any 'partying' began."
Deb walked back on his claim that the show hosts had "partied," saying: "I should've chosen a better word. 'Attended' is more accurate."
"Thank you," Scarborough replied, "but I did not 'attend' the party … And I'm glad I didn't stay. Groundhog Day with the kids was great. And Mariah Carey ... Good God. A fitting coda to 2016."
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