In a tweet Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump called Kathy Griffin’s photo “sick” and said the comedian “should be ashamed of herself.”
President Donald Trump fired back at Kathy Griffin today, after the comedian posted a photo of herself holding what appears to be a bloody, decapitated fake head of the president.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, Trump called the image “sick” and said Griffin “should be ashamed of herself.”
“My children, especially my 11 year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this, ” the president added.
Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!
The photo was taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields. Shields and Griffin posted it on their social media accounts Tuesday.
“I caption this ‘there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his … wherever, ‘” Griffin tweeted, referring to an exchange between Donald Trump and former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during the primary season.
But in an attempt to appease those who were offended by the image, the controversial comedian then tweeted, “OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.”
Condemnation of the image was widespread, and the photo received sweeping bi-partisan disapproval. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Trump’s Democratic presidential rival, was among the harshest critics, calling Griffin’s photo “vile and wrong.”
The backlash prompted Griffin to tweet a video of herself apologizing.
“Hey everybody, it’s me, Kathy Griffin, ” she said in the video. “I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images. I’m a comic. I crossed the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far, the image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny, I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career, I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. Taking down the image. I am going to ask the photographer to take down the image. And I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far, I made a mistake and I was wrong.”
ABC News’ David Caplan and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
