MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski apologized for calling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “wannabe dictator’s butt boy” on-air Wednesday morning.

“Totally agree with you -SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said “water boy”... like for football teams or something like that.. apologize to @SenatorDurbin too! SO SORRY!”



Totally agree with you -SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said “water boy”... like for football teams or something like that.. apologize to @SenatorDurbin too! SO SORRY! https://t.co/zIqsGdK3Tk — Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) December 12, 2018



Brzezinski excused the seemingly homophobic comment as meaning to say that Pompeo was a “butt boy” to President Trump in the sense of being a brown-noser or a toadie, someone sent to do the dirty work of their boss.

This definition, however, is less common than its meaning of a younger man in a submissive relationship with an older man.

It is not immediately clear why the "Morning Joe" co-host apologized to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in her tweet, but he did appear on the show as a remote guest right before she made the attack toward Pompeo.