Leading off Thursday’s ReidOut, scandal-ridden MSNBC host Joy Reid spun her latest web divorced from reality by comparing Senator David Perdue (R-GA) to Martha Stewart and insinuating that Perdue should be cuffed and jailed due to claims of insider trading that arose with the businesswoman in 2004.
Reid began with a bizarre, gleeful, and unhinged diatribe tying Perdue to Stewart:
Martha Stewart. Queen of domesticity. Baroness of the bunt cake. And ironic gal pal of Snoop — Snoop d-o-double chisel, ya nizzle? Now, despite the fame and her wealth, Ms. Stewart once sold a bunch of stock one day before those very stock prices plummeted. She never faced criminal insider trading charges but still served five months in prison for lying to authorities during an investigation with the sale. Enter Republican Senator David Perdue, who may or may not be able to whip a homemade creme fraiche. He was scrutinized for possible insider trading for his sale of more than $1 million worth of stock. No, the system must work differently for Perdue because the Justice Department, also known as Trump, Barr, and Associates, declined to bring charges. And now we're learning that Perdue is the Senate’s most prolific stock trader.
Reid cited a New York Times article about Perdue’s trading, but she left out the inconvenient fact that The Times piece made clear Perdue was, well, in the clear.
“It's the most complicated game of Jenga ever. You have David Perdue, who apparently just buys stock while he's a senator, and, like, find out what's happening through inside information and buys a lot of stock,” she later added.
Put simply, the gross comparison and facts weren’t on her side. Reid acknowledged that the Department of Justice cleared Perdue, but seemed to imply the system was rigged in his favor. But beyond that farce, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate had both cleared Perdue.
In a press statement, Perdue campaign communications director John Burke emphasized that the Senator “doesn’t handle the day-to-day decisions of his portfolio - all of his holdings are managed by outside financial advisors who make recommendations, set strategy, and manage trades and personal finances.”
But again, those facts didn’t stop her from spending even more minutes and seconds of the A-block spinning this web with former Obama official-turned-cable news Russia collusion conspiracy theorist Chuck Rosenberg (click “expand”):
REID: But I want to get for — just and back a little bit up, Chuck, to this idea of Perdue himself. Because we — I started talking about Martha Stewart, right? Martha Stewart got in a lot of trouble for doing a small little bit of stock trading based on what was said to be insider information and then not telling the truth when she was confronted about it by the FBI. Sounds familiar from somebody who just got pardoned for that — for much worse. But David Perdue — what he seems to have been doing is systemically playing the market while he was a senator. In your view, is he potentially in legal trouble and is Kelly Loeffler in similar legal trouble?
ROSENBERG: Right. Well, great question, Joy. First of all, trading a lot is not a crime. Trading more than any other senator is not a crime. But if he's trading on inside information, meaning he has an advantage that you and I as members of the public don't have, and he’s trading on that, that’s not just the problem, that's a crime. And if you recall, there was a congressman from upstate New York, gentlemen Chris Collins, who is convicted of that, right? What we need to know is whether he had inside information and traded on it. You have to show he did it intentionally. And that's always hard. But you know, I don't think on a yard sign it would look very good to say questionable ethical behavior, but not indicted for it. [REID LAUGHS] That's not really a campaign slogan. But that's where we're at right now and that is troubling. Is it criminal? Don't know enough yet.
REID: Well, I mean, by the way, they both have been saying — Loeffler and Perdue — part of their campaign thing is we never got indicted for any of this. I mean, so that is part of what they’re saying, believe it or not.
And again, there’s no there there or anything to investigate (as Rosenberg suggested).
Whether it be the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a local TV station, Politico, the Washington Free Beacon, or our friends at Townhall, the pieces debunking this nonsense span the spectrum.
Elsewhere in the lead-off segment, Reid re-upped the Democratic Party-dominated conspiracy theory that, while Georgia’s 2020 election wasn’t rigged, the Peach State’s 2018 election was, with now-Governor Brian Kemp (R) having “gamed” and “stole” “his own gubernatorial election when he was secretary of state so he could defeat Stacey Abrams and become governor in the first place.”
MSNBC’s insinuation that Perdue should be imprisoned was brought to you by supportive advertisers such as Ensure and Farmer’s Insurance. Follow the links to the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from December 3, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
December 3, 2020
7:00 p.m. EasternJOY REID: Martha Stewart. Queen of domesticity. Baroness of the bunt cake. And ironic gal pal of Snoop — Snoop d-o-double chisel, ya nizzle? Now, despite the fame and her wealth, Ms. Stewart once sold a bunch of stock one day before those very stock prices plummeted. She never faced criminal insider trading charges but still served five months in prison for lying to authorities during an investigation with the sale. Enter Republican Senator David Perdue, who may or may not be able to whip a homemade creme fraiche. He was scrutinized for possible insider trading for his sale of more than $1 million worth of stock. No, the system must work differently for Perdue because the Justice Department, also known as Trump, Barr, and Associates, declined to bring charges. And now we're learning that Perdue is the Senate’s most prolific stock trader. According to The New York Times, Perdue sometimes made 20 or more transactions in a single day and nearly 2,600 trades in a single term, most of which are in “companies that stood to benefit from policy and spending matters that came before the Senate as a whole, but before the committee and subcommittees on which he served.” I mean, when did he even have time to pass bills? Now, we know that almost none of the Trump’s campaign promises came true. But in particular, his vow to Drain the Swamp was clearly a joke because perhaps he, his cronies, and his family are that swamp's main artery. And the fishy financial transactions of Perdue and fellow Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler are the latest in this wide open, bums-out, naked corruption that we are seeing from the Republican party writ large. This corruption isn’t new, of course. But what is new is the Frankenstein monster that ate the Republican Party for lunch isn't just Trump anymore. It's an entirely new set of people who even Trump can't get a stubby little arms around. It's folks like Trumpian attorney Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who are lighting up Republican infighting in Georgia in ways that could cause the grifty old party everything. Now, the attorney I just mentioned, Lin Wood, isn't just stoking conspiracy theories about the election. He's now accusing Georgia Republican Governor Kemp of being personally complicit in election fraud. Here's what Wood said in rally that was streamed on NTD.
LIN WOOD: He can resign. And as far as I'm concerned lock him up.
CROWD AT GEORGIA RALLY: Lock him up!
REID: You heard that. Lock him up. A man. A Republican white man. And a man who is so Republican he gamed his own gubernatorial election when he was secretary of state so he could defeat Stacey Abrams and become governor in the first place. That Brian Kemp. But isn't even the wildest part of the fever swamp of delusion. Wood also told the audience — get this — not to vote in the Georgia run off because he says the system is rigged.
WOOD: If Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue do not do it, they have not earned your vote. Don't you give it to them. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?
REID: I cannot make this stuff up. [INTRODUCES PANEL] Jason, I’m going to skip the fabulous woman in the glasses to go to you first, even though I’m tempted to go to her just because of her glasses. Jason, this is insane. It's the most complicated game of Jenga ever. You have David Perdue, who apparently just buys stock while he's a senator, and, like, find out what's happening through inside information and buys a lot of stock. And then now you have Lin Wood saying, oh, don't vote in the election and put him back in because it’s Brian Kemp, who kinda stole an election for himself. He’s also bad — I don’t understand it. Explain Georgia to me, please. Right now.
JASON JOHNSON: This — so, Joy — so, this Lin Wood thing, I watched this over and over again. I'm convinced that this a Scooby Doo episode. This is the point where he would tear off his mask and he’s Chuck Schumer. [REID LAUGHS] Like, cause this is — this couldn't work any better for the democratic party. Like, they — they — Republicans have an advantage when it comes to — to turn out. Georgia has only been blueish for a month. But this is not just infighting. When you have people not just questioning the value and significance of voting, but Republicans actively telling other Republicans to not vote, they may seriously actually blow these elections. I want people to understand this about Georgia in case they — they’re confused how the state really plays out. Once you get outside of metro Atlanta, or Savannah. It's trump country, okay? The only place where things are competitive is just how big metro Atlanta is and so these people are not outliers. They're not crazy. They were in Alpharetta. That is a north Atlanta suburb, so if they can get a hearing in these places and say, yes, you shouldn't vote in the election for the corrupt inside traders and instead let in the two guys who we say want to defund police, we would rather have that than somebody who doesn't like Trump. I don’t know how this works. I don’t know how this mobius strip of campaign messaging works, but it doesn't end up working for the Republican party. If I was Jon Ossoff and Warnock right now, they’re high-fiving. They may actually march into office based on this incompetence.
REID: I mean, if he ripped off his face and it was Chuck Schumer, I would — I would die. But you know, we’re at the point, Christina, where you’ve got Newt Gingrich, who invented the politics of personal destruction as the ultimate Georgia Republican, then saying, “oh, no. Don't listen to Lin Wood. Don’t listen to Sidney Powell They crazy.” You have him going after them. They are all eating each other alive. And you’re right. It's over two senators who both appear to be inside traders.
CHRISTINA GREER: Yes. Indeed, Joy. And you know, I have asked you this several times. I keep asking you are they trolling us? Like, what is happening. Because you wouldn't know that the Republican party — I'm mean, I’m literally confused. I feel like my Ph.D is just out the window because I am confused as to why it is the Republican Party has chosen this moment, Joy, because the Republicans need to hold onto the majority so that Mitch McConnell can try and slow down or obstruct any policy positions of Joe Biden. What the Republican Party is doing now is almost trying to make sure that the Democrats win in Georgia, take a majority, chum chuck Schumer is the majority leader. And then the Democrats will have unified government for at least two years and Joe Biden can actually try and push forward certain legislative agendas that, quite ho0nestly, they haven't thought about since the first half of the first term of Barack Obama. So, this is, I think, a result of Donald Trump in the sense he is practiced the politics of individuality and so many of the people in his party have just catered to him. And so now the Republican Party, as a whole, has no real compass, no ideology, and now that Donald Trump is the loser, he will be leaving January 20 — by hook or courtroom — they are scrambling. And now we see, as Jason has said, they’re starting to eat themselves and sadly they’re going to eat their young. There's not a vision about the future of the Republican Party with younger people across the country. Senators, members of the House, governors, who should be being [sic] elevated at this moment to think about 2024.
REID: Well, their vision is don't let them vote. I mean, it's ironic Kemp could have crushed the belief of black people in voting. But instead, black folks, like, believe deeply in voting and are voting and they're just like telling each other not to vote. It's wild. But I want to get for — just and back a little bit up, Chuck, to this idea of Perdue himself. Because we — I started talking about Martha Stewart, right? Martha Stewart got in a lot of trouble for doing a small little bit of stock trading based on what was said to be insider information and then not telling the truth when she was confronted about it by the FBI. Sounds familiar from somebody who just got pardoned for that — for much worse. But David Perdue — what he seems to have been doing is systemically playing the market while he was a senator. In your view, is he potentially in legal trouble and is Kelly Loeffler in similar legal trouble?
CHUCK ROSENBERG: Right. Well, great question, Joy. First of all, trading a lot is not a crime. Trading more than any other senator is not a crime. But if he's trading on inside information, meaning he has an advantage that you and I as members of the public don't have, and he’s trading on that, that’s not just the problem, that's a crime. And if you recall, there was a congressman from upstate New York, gentlemen Chris Collins, who is convicted of that, right? What we need to know is whether he had inside information and traded on it. You have to show he did it intentionally. And that's always hard. But you know, I don't think on a yard sign it would look very good to say questionable ethical behavior, but not indicted for it. [REID LAUGHS] That's not really a campaign slogan. But that's where we're at right now and that is troubling. Is it criminal? Don't know enough yet.
REID: Well, I mean, by the way, they both have been saying — Loeffler and Perdue — part of their campaign thing is we never got indicted for any of this. I mean, so that is part of what they’re saying, believe it or not.
