Mika Brzezinski apologizes to LGBTQ people after on-air ‘butt boy’ remark

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski arrive at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner April 25, 2015 in Washington, DC Shutterstock

MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski issued an apology today for calling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “butt boy” on air after he defended the Saudi crown prince in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

The phrase “butt boy” is used as a homophobic slur. The term historically refers to a man who is submissive and receives anal sex, usually from an older man.

Using the term negatively is essentially the same as calling a man who doesn’t fulfill cultural masculinity ideals a “fag”.

She attempted to apologize shortly after she said it, tweeting, “Totally agree with you -SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said “water boy.”

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

RELATED: CNN’s White House reporter apologizes for anti-LGBTQ tweets

The Morning Joe co-host opened the program’s show apologizing, “Please allow me to say this face-to-face: The term is crass and offensive, and I apologize to everyone, especially the LGBTQ community, and to my colleagues for using it,” Brzezinski said on the air.

“It was a mistake. My father would have found it so unbecoming and disrespectful, and he would have told me,” she said about her late father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a diplomat and national security adviser.

“I will work hard to be better, but I just wanted to say, on camera, looking the viewer straight in the eye: I am really, really sorry.”