Agitated White House official rants about ‘socialism' after being grilled over Trump's anti-bullying hypocrisy

President Donald Trump's reputation for insults and cyberbullying loom large over the State of the Union, which may explain why White House communications official Mercedes Schlapp was reduced to ranting about "socialism" in a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC, after she was unable to explain the president's decision to bring Joshua Trump, a 6th grader who's been bullied because of his name, as his personal guest.

Host Hallie Jackson got right to the point, asking "is it hypocrisy to highlight bullying when the person giving the speech has deployed a litany of derogatory nicknames against his opponents?"

"This is a sixth grader, no sixth grader should be bullied," Schlapp replied, but Jackson continued to press her question about presidential hypocrisy. Schlapp responded by claiming that it was conservatives who were the real victims.

"Conservatives and Republicans are being shut down at universities for trying to speak up and have their point of view," she said, adding that she would much prefer "conversations of debates and ideas" about public policy. Demonstrating her own version of civility, she added "do we want to move to a socialist radical agenda to the left or have opportunity for all Americans."

Watch the video below.