- The Washington Times - Thursday, February 2, 2017

Political commentator Keith Olbermann had harsh words for President Trump on Wednesday after the commander in chief mischaracterized refugees being held at Australian detention centers as “illegal immigrants.”

The former ESPN and MSNBC anchor lashed out against Mr. Trump over Twitter Wednesday after the president weighed in with regards to an arrangement made under the Obama White House that would see Australia sending upwards of 1,250 refugees to the United States.

“Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!” Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday evening.

“They’re called ’refugees’ you piece of [expletive],” the commentator quipped back.

Mr. Olbermann’s response was retweeted more than 5,800 times in addition to generating hundreds of replies from other Twitter users as of early Thursday afternoon, by which point the former “SportsCenter” host had already fired off a few more tweets directed toward Mr. Trump in response to his controversial immigration policies.

“Trump is either too stupid to realize the Muslim Ban helps ISIS, or realizes it and has other motives,” Mr. Olbermann tweeted Thursday, using an acronym for the Islamic State terror group.

“Why did Trump institute a Muslim ban that will increase the risk of terrorism here? What will he do next?” he said in a followup tweet.

Separate from authorizing travel restrictions last week affecting citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, Mr. Trump provoked further controversy Wednesday after reports emerged involving a telephone call he had over the weekend with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

According to The Washington Post, Mr. Trump abruptly hung up on the Australia prime minster during Saturday’s call amid a dispute over the Obama-authorized resettlement arrangement.

“This is the worst deal ever,” Mr. Trump said of the agreement, The Post reported Wednesday evening, several hours before the president took to Twitter to label the refugees “illegal immigrants.”

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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