Joy Reid: GOP Wants to 'Undo' 20th Century, Drag Shows Are Just 'Art'

March 2nd, 2023 11:21 PM

On Thursday night’s The ReidOut on MSNBC, host Joy Reid once again lashed out at Republicans for wanting to protect children from degenerate groomers who want to genitally mutilate children and inflict sexually explicit drag shows on them. The latest source of Reid’s rage came as Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed two bills that would ban sex-change procedures and sexually-explicit drag shows. 

This was a problem for Reid who cried that “Republicans in Tennessee are moving full speed ahead in their quest to undo the thing they hate the most, the 20th century. With Governor Bill Lee signing a bill today that would restrict drag performances.”

 

 

Reid then claimed that drag was simply an art form that has been around since Shakespeare. She wants you to think Shakespeare’s kids went to drag queen story hour where a mentally ill man in a dress twerked and read to them.  

“If Governor Lee knew the history that Republicans don't want you to learn, he’d know that drag is an art form that goes back, literally, centuries. It's been around since Shakespeare,” Reid falsely claimed. 

Since everything involves race with Reid, she used an obvious joke that Tennessee state representative Paul Sherrell made during a hearing on legislation that would legalize firing squads as a punishment for violent crimes. He joked that hanging should be a punishment option as well, and predictably Reid interpreted that as the state legislator endorsing lynching.

After Reid went through the history of racist lynching in Tennessee, she whined that "Tennessee state representative Republican Paul Sherrell showed his ignorance of that history, debating a bill concerning capital punishment."

Even though he apologized for the joke, Reid said in a mocking tone that "he’s since apologized to anyone that he might of hurt or offended, saying it was to convey his belief that heinous crimes in a just society require the death penalty."

This segment on MSNBC was made possible by Sleep Number. Their information is linked.

To read the relevant transcript click “expand”: 

MSNBC’s The ReidOut
3/2/2023
7:51:52 p.m. Eastern

JOY REID: Republicans in Tennessee are moving full speed ahead in their quest to undo the thing they hate the most, the 20th century. With Governor Bill Lee signing a bill today that would restrict drag performances. If Governor Lee knew the history that Republicans don't want you to learn, he’d know that drag is an art form that goes back, literally, centuries. It's been around since Shakespeare. But in their zeal to turn back the clock, they're also showing their ignorance about the history they don't want their own children to learn, either. Tennessee's history of brutal lynchings. 

Like the Peoples grocery lynching in Memphis, 131 years ago today, when a white mob stormed the Shelby County jail and viciously lynched three black man. The murder prompted a friend of the three murdered man, journalist Ida B. Wells to begin her campaign to chronicle the horrors of lynching. 

Which frequently took the form of public hangings, the strange fruit born by southern trees, Billie Holiday sang about. Recently Tennessee state representative Republican Paul Sherrell showed his ignorance of that history, debating a bill concerning capital punishment. 

[cuts to video]

REP. PAUL SHERRELL: I was just wondering about, could I put an amendment on that? That would include hanging by a tree also? And also I would like to sign on to your bill, sir. 

[cuts back to live]

REID: The bill was to have firing squads come back. He’s since apologized to anyone that he might of hurt or offended, saying it was to convey his belief that heinous crimes in a just society require the death penalty.