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You could be forgiven for wondering whether Donald Trump is into self sabotage.
He's (again) single-handedly switched the focus from his legislative agenda to his own behaviour with a couple of toxic tweets directed at a female news anchor.
His comments have met swift condemnation from Republicans and Democrats, have revived discussion about his attitude towards women, and have raised questions about his repeat references to women bleeding amid his armoury of insults.
Remember the comment that then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly had blood coming out of her eyes after some tough questions about his treatment of women during a pre-election debate?
Here's what he told CNN:
"She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. In my opinion, she was off base."
Well now it's MSNBC's breakfast show anchor Mika Brzezinski who is on the receiving end of the US President's fury.
He's called her crazy, said she's got a low IQ and claimed she was bleeding badly from a face lift when they met at his Mar-a-Lago estate in the New Year.
He said:
Morning Joe Scarborough hosts Mika and Joe have had a difficult, on again, off again relationship with Mr Trump, but that's (obviously) now past the point of no return.
They've become highly critical of him, questioning his judgement and mental state.
Here's an example from Mika:
"Let's say somebody came in and took over NBC. And started tweeting wildly about people's appearances, bullying people, talking about people in the competition, lying everyday, undermining his managers, throwing people — the person would be thrown out. It's just not normal behaviour. In fact there would be concern that perhaps the person that runs the company is out of his mind."
We've noted before Mr Trump is not a morning person. He doesn't drink coffee (as opposed to covfefe), which may be part of the problem. Just a thought.
Anyway, the reaction was one of near universal condemnation from Democrats, but also Republicans.
Senator Lindsey Graham said the tweet was beneath the office of the President, while Senator Susan Collins, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Ben Sasse begged him to stop.
Speaker Paul Ryan said it was "inappropriate".
The first lady's spokesman also spoke up. She's running an anti-cyberbullying campaign after all.
Ahuh.
By the way, Joe Scarborough has just put out this music video.
We're mystified too Joe. Truly. (And no, that doppelganger at 9 seconds is not me FYI.)
Anyway, it's all very distracting…
And problematic. The above senators are just some of the votes the President is depending on if he wants to pass his controversial healthcare bill, among other things.
He also has key legislation to defund sanctuary cities and to crack down on deported immigrants returning to the US on its way through Congress.
Who's friends with who?
You'd think policy would be the focus, because it's tricky keeping up with who's friends with who these days on Capitol Hill.
A pro-Trump Super PAC unleashed a vicious campaign on Republican Dean Heller from Nevada this week after he indicated he'd vote no on the Senate healthcare bill.
No wonder Democrats are struggling. A plane carrying a message of support for Heller appeared over the skies this week … the only problem was it was in West Virginia. Whoops, only 2,000 miles off guys:
Meanwhile, another group has put out this hit ad on Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who's leading the investigation into Russia:
Just a PSA: It's pronounced Mull-er not Muell-er.
Given the toxic nature of things, it's no real surprise controversial Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz has decided to get out of the game, packing up his things this week for good.
Of course, he didn't leave without a stir, suggesting congressman should receive a $3,250 ($US2,500) per month stipend to help with accommodation costs — despite the fact he makes close to $260,300 ($US200,000) per year.
Here's his cheeky tweet on the way out:
White House still at war with the media
Moving right along in this episode of Back to the Future, the White House is in the trenches with the media (again/still).
And as is clear from above, Sean Spicer is not the only one who's happy to crash heads with the press.
That said, speculation is rife Spicy (as he's become known) may be on the way to a behind-the-scenes role and that's been fanned by Sarah Sanders fronting the podium again this week.
Don't assume the tough-talking Arkansas daughter of Mike Huckabee is a shoe-in for the job however.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry made a strong case for himself if he wanted to take on a new role, taking questions from the White House Press Corps for nearly 40 minutes:
Kapow. That's quite a finger you have there sir! (Ducks.)
Oh and still on journos and whatnot, the media has begun to eat itself as the various outlets pick very distinct sides in a highly partisan environment.
Here CNN's Brian Stelter takes on Mr Trump's fave show, Fox & Friends:
By the numbers
85: That's the number of times the President has attacked the media via Twitter since becoming Commander-in-Chief, according to Jake Tapper's The Lead on CNN.
In comparison, he's tweeted about the military just 27 times.
Trump accused of 'fake news'
On the truly bizarre scale, the Washington Post revealed a fake Time magazine cover is hanging in several of Mr Trump's golf courses around the world. Literally, fake news.
Time Magazine asked for the fake covers to be taken down and published a handy guide to spot fakes.
What's the saying about imitation and flattery?
Countless parody covers followed. Here are the top three from the week:
3. There was Bird of the Year:
2. A Homage to the Swamp Thing:
1. But the Democrat from Virginia, Gerry Connolly, is this week's winner:
It's been a weird week, but you've stuck with us so far, so hang in a little longer because there's more where that came from.
When Irish eyes are smiling:
Glenn Thrush from the New York Times needs a holiday:
Covfefe is now on the banned number plates list:
2020 Vision
It's never too early to speculate on who might be the next POTUS, right?
A couple of names popped up this week, including Joe Biden (again).
Will he take the plunge?
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
There's also Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has been touring middle America — the second time he's embarked on such a trip in 2017:
(Read the comments.)
But it's much too far fetched to think he could win the next Presidential election … right?
Topics: us-elections, government-and-politics, donald-trump, world-politics, united-states
First posted