'Morning Joe' Host Mika Brzezinski Apologizes On-Air for Homophobic Slur

Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski has formally apologized on-air for using a homophobic slur in previous broadcast.

The controversy began on Wednesday, when Brzezinski was speaking about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's relationship with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been speculated to have been involved in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

She asked aloud, "Is that a patriot speaking, or a wannabe dictator's butt boy? Dead serious, I'm asking: Are these the words of a patriot?" Photographer G.E. Anderson, then spoke up on Twitter and asserted that she should not "equate homosexuality with Mike Pompeo carrying water for the murderous regime in Saudi Arabia."

Brzezinski quickly tweeted back that she was "so sorry" for the "SUPER BAD choice of words" she chose to use.

I was with you, @morningmika, right up to the “butt boy” comment. Try “toadie” or “lackey” or “stool pigeon” or “ass kisser,” or “traitor,” but maybe don’t equate homosexuality with Mike Pompeo carrying water for the murderous regime in Saudi Arabia.

— G.E. Anderson (@g_e_anderson) December 12, 2018

The news journalist faced significant criticism for her comment, and ended up not being on the show Thursday. Her absence was explained as being due to a personal situation with family.

When she returned on Friday, however, 51-year-old Brzezinski delivered a more in-depth apology to viewers.

"I wanted to address a term that I used on this show on Wednesday that was vulgar," she stated. "I knew it right away, and I tweeted that it was a terrible choice of words and that I was sorry. But please allow me to say this face to face: The term is crass and offensive, and I apologize to everyone—especially the LGBTQ community and to my colleagues—for using it."

"It was a mistake," Brzezinski continued. "My father would have found it so unbecoming and disrespectful and he would have told me. I will work hard to be better. But I just wanted to say—on camera, looking viewers straight in the eye—I am really, really sorry."

One of her biggest critics has been President Donald Trump, who took to Twitter to chide the host, as well as suggest that anyone from the opposite political affiliation would have been in much hotter water if they had done what she did.

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 J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018

MSNBC, the network Morning Joe airs on, does not appear to have released a statement on Brzezinski's comment.