MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski took Thursday morning off after coming under fire for referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a "wannabe dictator's butt boy" on the air Wednesday.
Her new husband and co-host Joe Scarborough opened the show by saying she "has the day off with her family, a long-planned family event," reports Mediaite.
Brzezinski was angry Wednesday after Pompeo, during a Fox News "Fox and Friends" interview, maintained there is not yet enough evidence to link Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
“Are the pathetic deflections that we just heard when he appeared on 'Fox & Friends' — is that a patriot speaking?," Brzezinski said, "or a wannabe dictator’s butt-boy? I’m dead serious, I’m asking: are these the words of a patriot?”
She quickly apologized through a tweet, saying she'd used a "SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said 'water boy'... like for football teams or something like that."
Brzezinski also apologized to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who was on the program when she made her comments.
"Fox & Friends" did not mention the incident, or Brzezinski's absence, early Thursday.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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