Fox News host Sean Hannity had a public spat with "Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough, and a White House official weighed in. | Getty White House social media director jumps into Hannity-Scarborough fray

The White House’s director of social media has weighed in on a brewing social media feud between two cable news heavyweights, backing Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity over MSNBC morning anchor Joe Scarborough.

The MSNBC “Morning Joe” host, known to be a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, who has nonetheless been critical of his weeks-old administration, took to Twitter Sunday night to attack Stephen Miller, the White House’s senior policy adviser who represented the president on the Sunday morning political talk shows. Trump praised Miller performance on Twitter, but Scarborough’s review differed.


“I hope the president is talking about The Steve Miller Band and not that kid who embarrassed the White House this morning. #SweatsLikeMarco,” Scarborough wrote in his social media post, linking back to Trump’s tweet congratulating Miller and saying he had done a “great job” in “representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows.”

Scarborough’s criticism set off Hannity, a staunch Trump defender, who pecked out a flurry of posts defending Miller and the president while attacking the MSNBC host.

“Joe why don't you focus on getting your horrific ratings up. They totally suck. And I'll take Steve Miller on my team over u any day,” Hannity wrote in a decidedly Trumpian attack on the MSNBC host’s ratings. A second post, also reminiscent of the type that Trump has sent in the past, Hannity wrote that “maybe it's time we start talking about who you really are. What do you think?”

“Steve Miller works 18 hour days serving the country and the @POTUS What do you do? Basically talk to yourself & @morningmika. Nobody watches!” Hannity wrote in the third of his posts, citing “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski by her username on Twitter.

Dan Scavino, a senior adviser to Trump and the White House’s social media director, offered his take Monday morning, linking to the Fox News host’s original tweet mocking Scarborough’s ratings and adding that “Hannity owns Jealous Joe” along with a red, angry-faced emoji.

When CNN host and regular White House sparring partner Jake Tapper noted that Scavino’s “jealous Joe” post had been authored by an official bearing the title “assistant to the president and White House director of social media,” Scavino shot back that Tapper is a “CNN Anchor & ‘Chief Washington Correspondent,’” adding quotes presumably for derisive effect.

Although Scarborough had yet to respond to any of Hannity's attacks from Sunday evening, the Fox News anchor renewed his attacks again Monday afternoon. Over the course of three tweets, Hannity once again defended Miller and called Scarborough an "elitest snob," each time linking to a "Morning Joe" tweet that featured video of a stunned MSNBC morning show panel reacting to a montage of the White House adviser's Sunday show appearances. Scarborough called Miller's accumulated performance on Sunday "horrendous and an embarrassment."

"Last point I have a radio show to do," Hannity wrote on Twitter, taking another shot at Scarborough's ratings. "Watch your reaction. Can u not see what a pompous arrogant jackass u are? U Avg what, .7? .2? Connection?"