Did Time Magazine cover skit trigger Trump’s temper?

DONALD Trump’s blistering attack on female anchor Mika Brzezinski didn’t just come out of nowhere. She’d just taken an almighty swing at him.

DONALD Trump’s blistering attack on NBC anchor Mika Brzezinski may have been sparked by comments she made about a fake Time Magazine cover featuring the president.

Mr Trump ridiculed the Morning Joe host in a shocking Twitter tirade after she and co-host Joe Scarborough criticised and mocked him on air.

The two hosts led a panel discussion on the fake magazine cover, which reportedly hangs on the walls of Mr Trump’s golf clubs. The cover shows Mr Trump with his arms folded, and the headline Donald Trump The “Apprentice” is a television smash!

Donald Trump on cover of mocked-up Time magazine; fake cover in his golf clubs

According to Time Magazine, there was no cover of Mr Trump on March 1, 2009 and Mr Trump had only been on one (January 16, 1989) prior to running for President.

Speaking about it, Ms Brzezinski said: “Nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day and destroying the country. It’s a good feeling.”

She didn’t stop there, continuing to mock Mr Trump by calling him the man with the “teensy” hands - which are out of view on the cover - before adding: “Yeah the guy with the little hands ... I was talking about Trump.”

The president is notoriously sensitive about the size of his hands, so much so that he assured the American people there was “no problem” in that regard during a televised presidential debate. Read into that what you will.

The Morning Joe hosts discuss the fake Time Magazine cover featuring Donald Trump. Picture: Screengrab/MSNBC

During the segment, Ms Brzezinski also criticised the Trump administration at length and said its officials should not act “lobotomised” because they are scared of the president, Reuters reported.

The Morning Joe hosts featured live interviews of Mr Trump during the 2016 election, to the point where they were accused of being too close to him, but have become much more critical.

Mr Trump launched his shocking Twitter tirade just minutes after their show aired, tweeting that Ms Brzezinski had a “low IQ” and was “bleeding badly” from a facelift.

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

...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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

The tweets drew wide condemnation including from fellow Republicans.

I want my GOP colleagues to explain to my 3 granddaughters why they think these viciously sexist comments are acceptable from our President. https://t.co/C0C4GJaYks

— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) June 29, 2017

Republican senator Ben Sasse appealed for the President to stop.

Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office.

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 29, 2017

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, slammed the tweets as sexist and an attack on women.

.@realDonaldTrump's tweets today are sexist, an assault on the freedom of the press & an insult to all women. Apologize!

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 29, 2017

Ms Brzezinski herself tweeted a picture of a Cheerios box which featured a picture of a child and the caption Made for Little Hands.

pic.twitter.com/8YhzcCUwM1

— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) June 29, 2017

This certainly isn’t the first time Mr Trump has made derogatory comments about a female reporter or presenter.

He famously feuded with Megyn Kelly, then a Fox News anchor, during the election campaign after she called him out for his derogatory comments about women.

Mr Trump labelled her “crazy Megyn”, a “lightweight reporter” and retweeted comments calling her a “bimbo”.

He also infamously implied she had asked him tough questions at a televised debate because she was menstruating.

“I just don’t respect her as a journalist,” he said.

“She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”

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