Mika Brzezinski called out President Donald Trump for taking a shot at her fiancé and Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough, saying the president's tweet that referenced the death of a woman at Scarborough's office 16 years ago peddled a "false conspiracy theory."
A short time after Scarborough announced he was resigning from Congress in 2001, his constituent-services director Lori Klausutis, 28, was found dead at his Florida office. It was ruled she had a heart condition, collapsed, and struck her head on her desk. Some conspiracy theorists have suggested over the years Scarborough might have had something to do with the death. No evidence has ever been presented to support that claim.
Trump posted this tweet Wednesday morning:
In a statement sent to New York Magazine, Brzezinski blasted Trump's call to investigate the death.
"I'll speak for Joe and myself here because Joe has stated that responding to President Trump's tweets are a waste of his time," Brzezinski said. "[Wednesday] the president crossed another deeply disturbing line. With his attack on Joe this morning, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America advanced a false conspiracy theory to intimidate the press and cause a chilling effect on the 1st Amendment.
"Joe and I are not intimidated and his bizarre behavior contravenes both the Constitution and basic moral judgment. This is all we are going to be saying on the matter. We continue to focus on more pressing issues like the nuclear conflict with North Korea. We hope the president will do the same."
Trump routinely criticizes Scarborough and Brzezinski via his Twitter account, often focusing on Brzezinski.