Media

Ted Cruz and Joe Scarborough get into Twitter feud over viral video of Pence shared by Kimmel

by Brooke Seipel - 05/08/20 10:57 PM ET

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough got into a heated clash on Twitter on Friday, with the two hurling insults back and forth after Scarborough deleted a tweet sharing a video that made it appear as though Vice President Pence delivered empty boxes of personal protective equipment (PPE) to a hospital.

In a viral clip, Pence is caught on what appears to be a hot mic joking about carrying empty boxes into a Virginia nursing home “just for the cameras.” The partial clip was shared by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who later apologized once it was made clear Pence had been joking and the full video showed the vice president carrying full boxes into the nursing home.

Scarborough had shared the shortened video, and later announced after Kimmel’s apology that he would delete the misleading video.

“I guess Twitter is a full time job. I apologize to Mike Pence for retweeting a tweet that had been disproved. I’m deleting now,” he wrote.

I guess Twitter is a full time job. I apologize to Mike Pence for retweeting a tweet that had been disproved. I’m deleting now.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 8, 2020

But Cruz called out Scarborough for sharing the video, and hit him for being a “dishonest and corrupt” journalist.

Scarborough clapped back, escalating the feud by referencing Trump’s past insults of Cruz: “Ted, when I make a mistake I admit it. You remain mired in shame because you kowtow to a man who called your wife ugly and said your daddy assassinated JFK. Me messing up a tweet or two will never erase the shame you carry every day of your life.”

Cruz then hit back, comparing Scarborough to “a teenage girl throwing her panties at the latest boy band” by having Trump frequently appear on MSNBC during the 2016 Republican primary.

Hmm. When you’re on the defensive for being dishonest & corrupt, perhaps best not to forward fraudulent stories from Jimmy Kimmel (that he’s admitted were false)? You are claiming to be a journalist, after all…. https://t.co/tYsgKJGxpR

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 8, 2020

Ted, when I make a mistake I admit it. You remain mired in shame because you kowtow to a man who called your wife ugly and said your daddy assassinated JFK. Me messing up a tweet or two will never erase the shame you carry every day of your life. https://t.co/eJa4qWzqA2

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 8, 2020

Joe, you chased after Trump for 2 years like a teenage girl throwing her panties at the latest boy band; now you pretend to be this indignant paragon of virtue outraged at everything he says & does. All to get invited to DC cocktail parties & thrill the 13 people watching MSNBC. https://t.co/XG9P0Bwrbp

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 8, 2020

You lose this fight every time.
You sold your soul to Trump.
You. Lose.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 8, 2020

PS. I don’t do cocktail parties. I went to University of Alabama and University of Florida. You’re a Harvard and Princeton boy who spends your life around lobbyists and billionaires. You can cut out the man-of-the-people BS. Nobody believes anything you say.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 8, 2020

The last tweets in the feud appeared to end with Scarborough dragging Cruz as a “Harvard and Princeton boy.”