MSNBC’s Joy Reid is apparently in talks to take over the 7 p.m. weekday spot previously held by former anchor Chris Matthews, who resigned abruptly in March following allegations that he made inappropriate comments to a network guest.
If true, it means that MSNBC will have traded a three martini-style sexist who has copped to the inappropriate remarks for a homophobic conspiracy-theory wing nut. I cannot decide if this would be an upgrade, a downgrade, or a lateral move for the cable network.
Though the reported personnel shift would be great news for Reid, who would finally move out of playing small ball in the weekend minors, it would likely be the opposite for MSNBC’s weekday prime-time viewers. For those who had grown accustomed to Matthews’s peculiar but relatively historically grounded commentary, Reid moving into that slot likely would prove a rude shock.
For starters, Reid does not seem to know much of anything, let alone obscure details of American political history. Worse still is her embrace of the absolute worst trends in modern political discourse. There is no anti-Republican conspiracy theory she will not promote, no anti-GOP slander too malicious for her to repeat, and no anti-conservative remark too uninformed and insipid for her to utter.
In fact, Reid has a long, shameful history of petty, ignorant behavior, more ignorant than anything Matthews’s regular viewers may be accustomed to.
Take, for example, the time in 2017 when Reid attacked President Trump’s marital history.
“Donald Trump married one American (his second wife) and two women from what used to be Soviet Yugoslavia: Ivana-Slovakia, Melania-Slovenia,” she tweeted.
Along with having a distinct xenophobic flavor, the tweet also contains three factual errors. First, Yugoslavia was never part of the Soviet Union. Second, Slovakia was never a part of Yugoslavia. Lastly, Ivana Trump is not Slovakian. She was born and raised in the Czech Republic.
Three errors in just 22 words. Impressive. Get this woman a prime-time show!
More seriously, if you think this is bad, there is so, so much more.
In 2017, immediately following a would-be mass shooting event targeting Republican members of the House, Reid went after Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was left in critical condition by a bullet that ripped through his organs and shattered his bones.
“It’s a delicate thing because obviously, everybody is wishing the congressman well and hoping that he recovers. But Steve Scalise has a history that we’ve all been forced to sort of ignore on race,” she said. “Because he is in jeopardy and everyone is pulling for him, are we required in a moral sense to put that aside?”
Later, in 2018, Reid accused National Review’s David French of having said that the overall threat of nuclear conflict had been drastically overblown because nuclear war would “only kill Democrats and minorities.” French claimed no such thing.
The MSNBC host said in 2019 that “wealthy white Christian [Americans]” would hold onto power by using “the apartheid model” of isolating minorities. Reid claimed that a White House-organized Fourth of July celebration posed a “threat” to the nation. She suggested it is racist to interview white, working-class voters. She also falsely accused U.S. Military Academy cadets of flashing a supposed symbol of white supremacy during a televised football game.
In March of this year, Reid warned that the president is working covertly to expand his presidential authority so that he may “[reign] as a monarch with unlimited power.” Reid later accused Trump of promising white voters that he will “get rid” of “brown immigrants.” In May, she blamed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery on the president, Republicans, and the National Rifle Association.
Then, there is the mother of all Reid incidents: Hackergate.
The MSNBC anchor claimed in 2018 that time-traveling bandits had hacked into her old blog and uploaded damning homophobic posts. She was so married to this obvious lie that she even enlisted the aid of the FBI in finding the perpetrators of the alleged cybercrime. Reid’s legal team has yet to offer an update on the status of the investigation.
Remember: This is the host whom MSNBC’s brass is reportedly considering for the much-coveted 7 p.m. spot.
If nothing else, there is at least a big lesson to be learned should Reid ascend to the major leagues: Never, under any circumstances, apologize for anything. Ever. Even if everyone in the world knows you are lying.
