Donald Trump criticises 'crazed' Mika Brzezinski over homophobic comment about Mike Pompeo

Trump implies the 'Morning Joe' host should be fired for using the 'horrible term'

President Donald Trump has criticised American TV host Mika Brzezinski over her use of a homophobic slur, claiming a conservative would be banned from the airwaves for using the remark.

The MSNBC co-host of weekday morning show ‘Morning Joe’ called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “butt-boy” on air over an interview Mr Pompeo gave to Fox News where he said reports of a CIA assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was linked to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were “inaccurate”.

The CIA has reportedly assessed with “high confidence” that the crown prince was involved in the order to kill Mr Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Saudi Arabia has blamed a “rogue” team of operatives for the killing and repeatedly denied that Crown Prince Mohammed was involved in any way. Mr Trump has also doubted the CIA’s findings.

“If it was a Conservative that said what ‘crazed’ Mika Brzezinski stated on her show yesterday, using a certain horrible term, that person would be banned permanently from television,” Donald Trump posted on his Twitter account.

With his trademark ellipses, the president then added: “She will probably be given a pass, despite their terrible ratings.”

Ms Brzezinski tweeted an apology after the incident, saying she was guilty of a “super bad” choice of words.

Trump went on to praise gay US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, after he criticised Ms Brzezinski.

Mr Grenfell posted on his Twitter account: “Outrageous. This is totally unacceptable & deeply disturbing. Sexualising gay people this way is designed to control them and minimise our worth...”

In a further tweet, responding directly to the tweeted apology from Ms Brzezinski, Mr Grenfell added: “Accepting apologies is important. We all fail. But I don’t see that you’ve actually apologised to gays? Your words demean, mock and therefore try to control whole groups by minimising our humanity.”

A known Democrat, this is not the first run in Ms Brzezinski has had with Donald Trump’s Twitter account.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump criticised both Mika Brzezinski and co-host Joe Scarborough. In turn, Ms Brzezinski called Trump’s presidency “fake and failed”.

The following year Donald Trump was heavily criticised for tweeting: “How come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!”

There has been speculation that Ms Brzezinski did not appear on ‘Morning Joe’ on Thursday over the homophobic comment, but her Joe Scarborough claimed her absence was due to a “long-planned family event.”