Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson called President Donald Trump’s defense of his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s government jet use “cringeworthy” and “pathetic” on Monday’s episode of Morning Joe.

During a discussion of the feud between NFL players and the president, Robinson recalled another moment from the weekend: Trump’s comments on Mnuchin’s use of a government jet to fly from New York to Washington D.C., which reportedly cost taxpayers $25,000.

“I thought the most, sort of cringeworthy moments of the weekend were watching that Steve Mnuchin defense,” Robinson said.

“Ugh,” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough chimed in. “Good lord, I agree.”

“I mean it was just pathetic,” Robinson continued. “You almost felt sorry for the guy but it was so awful that I couldn’t actually feel sorry for him. Because look dude, what are you defending? You’re defending the indefensible.”

Scarborough also called out Mnuchin for his remark that NFL players should “do free speech on their own time.”

He said those comments were “so ignorant of what the First Amendment was drafted to protect.”

Axios’s Mike Allen added that “Steve Mnuchin is a Trump mini-me without all the bombast.”

“Well maybe he just wants to stand on gold using government resources at Fort Knox,” Scarborough quipped, referencing Mnuchin’s trip to Kentucky last month.

Mike Barnicle wrapped things up: “The saddest thing about this is, this is not about the flag, this is not about a song. This is about Colin Kaepernick’s right, your right, your right, my right, to be free. To do what you want to do in this country, within reason.”

[image via screengrab]

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