MSNBC’s Joy Reid is the worst kind of ignorant — the lazy kind. She cannot even be bothered to perform a cursory, 10-second Google search before spouting off with baseless conspiracy theories implying that certain members of the United States Congress are beholden to the Russian government.
On Wednesday, for example, an anonymous Twitter user, @Mike236, suggested Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana is conspiring with the Russians.
“Senator Kennedy is feighning [sic] anger over the STEEL [sic] dossier, the same senator Kennedy who went to Russia on our independence day July 4th. 2018,” the anonymous Twitter user said to all of his 5,000 followers.
Joy Reid, who hosts a prime-time show on one of the three big cable news networks, wasted no time amplifying @Mike236’s insinuation.
“Has Senator Kennedy ever been asked in a media interview what he was doing in Russia on the Fourth of July, 2018, who he talked to, and whether he divulged any secrets to any Russian official that could jeopardise [sic] American national security?” she asked her 1.7 million followers.
Has Senator Kennedy ever been asked in a media interview what he was doing in Russia on the Fourth of July, 2018, who he talked to, and whether he divulged any secrets to any Russian official that could jeopardise American national security? https://t.co/IBQg455cHs
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 5, 2020
An extremely brief Google search shows the senator has, in fact, been asked what he was doing in Russia on the Fourth of July, 2018, and he gave a lengthy answer to that question.
“This is what I said,” Kennedy told CNN that year, explaining that he was part of a diplomatic mission to deliver a series of warnings to Russian leadership, “No. 1, stop screwing with American elections.”
He added, “No. 2, get out of eastern Ukraine and let them self-determine. No. 3, get out of Crimea and let Crimea self-determine. No. 4, stop screwing around in Syria and help us settle the mess. And No. 5, do not allow Iran to get a foothold in southern Syria. Because if you do that, there’s going to be another war.”
The senator continued, saying the most difficult part of the trip was meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We exchanged words — he’s a bully,” Kennedy said. “He impressed me as the sort of guy who started out in the world as a smart-ass and worked his way up,” he said. “And it was a pretty tough meeting. But I think our message was delivered.”
Can we pause here for a moment to appreciate the implication that Kennedy and other members of Congress had to travel all the way to Russia to partake in a Kremlin conspiracy? Have Reid and @Mike236 not heard of, oh, I don’t know, encrypted messages or even intermediaries? For conspiracy theorists, they don’t seem to know much about how to run a good conspiracy.
Kennedy, by the way, also said in 2018 that he told the Russians personally that the U.S. Congress would “double down on sanctions” if Moscow interfered in the 2018 midterm elections.
The Louisiana lawmaker said he and his colleagues “were pretty direct.”
“I was pretty direct that if they meddle with our election this fall, they’re going to get a double dose of those sanctions,” Kennedy said. “Does that mean they’re going to stop? No. I don’t know what they’re going to do. But I thought it was important for us to deliver the message that we know what they’re doing, and we don’t appreciate it.”
None of these quotes were difficult to find, by the way. The internet is an amazing resource. With help, maybe even a cable news host can figure it out.
