Reporter who gave Maddow Trump's tax return blasts Melania Trump over 'sleazy porn pictures'

Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, who shared two pages of President Donald Trump's 2005 tax return on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show this week, has come under fire for controversial comments he made about first lady Melania Trump.

On MSNBC's The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday, Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and contributor for the Daily Beast and the New York Times, accused the first lady of doing what he called "very sleazy porn pictures."

Click through Twitter's reaction to Johnston's comments about the first lady:

The comments came during a discussion on Trump's 2005 taxes. MSNBC host O'Donnell first pointed out that Trump "has wages and salary income, which is unusual for someone in his case."

Johnston interjected saying, "Could be hers. His wife was a model."

"Right," O'Donnell replied, clarifying that while Melania is listed on the return "she was never at that league," regarding the first lady's past modeling career.

The "Making of Donald Trump" author then interrupted and added that the first lady, "did do very sleazy porn pictures." Rachel Maddow, who was also on the panel at the time, quickly cut Johnston off.

"My remark was accurate but out of place in that conversation," Johnston said in a statement provided to AOL.com.

"Rachel appropriately reproved me for my brief remark, which I instantly realized was not appropriate in the context of that conversation."

You can watch the exchange here:

Many on Twitter were quick to call out the reporter for his comments about the first lady's former modeling career. One user said, "David Cay Johnston's desire to talk about Melania's "sleazy porn" was the low point in the MSNBC coverage."

Another user accused the journalist of trying to "slut shame" the first last. "Did David Cay Johnston just attempt to slut shame Melania in an aside about Trump's tax returns? Rachel Maddow shot a, "Hey, hey, hey..."

Johnston's comments, for the most part, have gone unreported by major media outlets, as Newsbusters.org reports.

This post has been updated with a statement from David Cay Johnston.