They are growing calls for MSNBC anchor Joy Reid to be taken off the air following her controversial comments about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Reid, 55, drew ire on two separate occasions after a gunman shot Trump in the ear. She posted a video on social media platform X suggesting the incident might not have happened at all and later compared President Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis to Trump’s reaction to the assassination attempt, describing Biden’s experience with the virus as equally heroic.
Reid whines that Trump surviving an assassination attempt is viewed “as a sign of strength.” She suggests Biden recovering from COVID should be celebrated the same way: “If he does fine…and is able to do rallies, isn’t that exactly the same?”
“It should,” Jen Psaki says. pic.twitter.com/P6CS47Q2PX— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 17, 2024
Prominent conservative commentator Charlie Kirk began the outcry, demanding MSNBC remove Reid from her position for her “outrageous, insane, defamatory” theories. Kirk was particularly upset by Reid’s video, which listed several elements she found suspicious about the incident, implying it might have been staged to create a photo opportunity for Trump. In the video, Reid hinted that Trump and the Secret Service could have colluded in a fake assassination attempt that resulted in two deaths, all for the sake of a powerful image of Trump pumping his fist in the air. Kirk called for Trump to sue Reid for her remarks.
Reid also questioned whether Trump was genuinely hit by a bullet, citing initial reports suggesting he might have been struck by a shard of glass from a teleprompter. This rhetoric at MSNBC has grown so extreme that even the left-leaning site Mediaite published a piece criticizing the network’s recent coverage of Republican politics, particularly the response to the assassination attempt.
Joy Reid of MSNBC is now suggesting that Donald Trump was never hit by a bullet, and that his campaign and the Secret Service colluded to kill two people in a fake assassination attempt just so Trump could have a photo op.
Outrageous. Insane. Defamatory.
NBC must take Reid off… pic.twitter.com/OLXz08fbE9
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 18, 2024
The left-leaning site, Mediaite also lambasted MSNBC for its series of distorted takes, highlighting former RNC chair Michael Steele’s persistent questioning of Trump’s injury, despite all available answers. Steele suggested that the lack of detailed medical information from Trump’s team indicated something suspicious, echoing conspiracy theorists who seize on minor details to suggest grander plots.
Adding to the controversy, Joy Reid posted on Threads, insinuating further doubt about the shooting, while her colleague Rachel Maddow linked J.D. Vance’s admiration for “Lord of the Rings” to far-right ideologies. Maddow remarked on Vance’s venture capital firm, Narya, named after a term from the series, suggesting it had Aryan connotations by rearranging letters—a statement met with criticism for its perceived absurdity.
Rachel Maddow having a normal one. Calls Lord of the Rings a right wing dog whistle. (Based)
Refers to Gandalf’s Ring of Power “Narya” and says, it’s “Aryan” but you just move the “N.”
Hard hitting mental breakdown goblin activity here. pic.twitter.com/stP0wA4NVN
— The Middle-earth Mixer (@MiddleearthMixr) July 18, 2024
Alex Wagner further fueled the fire with her analysis of Vance’s speech about wanting to be buried in his family plot, interpreting it as a covert signal of white nationalism. Wagner’s interpretation was so extreme that it could be dismissed as a far-fetched joke if it weren’t presented seriously.
I’m no JD Vance fan, but Alex Wagner’s sophomore-undergrad-level reading of the secret white supremacist meaning of his family burial plot explains why MSNBC & identity politics flounder. Tendentious & irrelevant while erasing Usha Vance’s agency.pic.twitter.com/hxauzKFzdD
— Nick Gillespie (@nickgillespie) July 19, 2024
