Joe Scarborough blows up at reporter who accuses him of 'partying' with Donald Trump

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."