For night two of MSNBC’s The ReidOut on Tuesday, host Joy Reid increased the levels of hatred, lies, and venom for law enforcement, the federal government, and people who simply disagree with her into the stratosphere. Most notably, she claimed that federal forces were a “dystopian,” “militaristic-looking,” “secret police” who’ve been “kidnapping” “peaceful” protesters (read: Antifa) in Portland.
Reid predictably spoke with a cartoonishly dismissive tone of violence in major American cities, claiming at the top of her show that such rising crime was a “distraction” and “fictional.”
And yet, Trump has “sent his federal police force” anyway, “kidded out in camo gear as if they’re a mini army...to suppress” Portland, Oregon “protesters demonstrating against racial injustice.”
Reid built on her mountain of lies with a rank lie that the Portland crowd has been “peaceful” (and a chyron that read “Portland Protests Have Been Mostly Peaceful”):
Now, just for reference, here are some of the protests that we have seen in Portland. A peaceful group of moms gathered to demonstrate. But Trump would have you believe that America's cities are criminal wastelands and he’s using the trumped up charge to justify what any other country, particularly an authoritarian, would be called the secret police, responsive only to the Dear Leader.
Violence in Portland has ranged for 55 days and amid the property damage has been the police union’s building and a federal courthouse, but Joy wants you to think this wasn’t real.
And one has to wonder if Reid thought over 60 people shot over the last two weekends in Chicago was humorous and “fictional.” Never forget that this was how she (and others like CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon) react to violent crime.
Speaking with Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Reid then claimed that the restoration of law and order was “ominous” with Trump’s “militaristic-looking” “secret police” (which was a lie) were using “unmarked” vehicles and “kidnapping people and holding them without....even talking to the local officials.”
Reid added before playing audio of acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf saying his agency will “do our job” to serve and protect Americans was “one of the most chilling pieces of audio that I have heard in a long time.”
Former Attorney General Eric Holder followed Harris and, despite the fact he was previously America’s top law enforcement official, didn’t correct Reid’s conspiracy theories. This time, Reid ruled that the use of federal military or police forces in cities were no longer “a relief to people of color” (click “expand”):
REID: These forces that we are seeing deployed in to the streets of America's cities, you know, a generation ago, when federal had forces were deployed in to American cities, it was a relief to people of color because it meant that a little girl may get walked in to school or that a James Meredith could be walked into the University of Mississippi, that they were — you know, the calvary was coming. Now, when federal forces are being deployed into America’s cities, it's to tear gas and abuse people and in some cases just snatch people off the streets without identifying themselves and essentially to kidnap them. It's a secret police sort of, you know, vibe instead of a cavalry. What do you make of what’s happening right now?
HOLDER: Well, first of all, you know, congratulations on your show. I’m glad that you’re hiring — having me on, hope I’ll be back up many times. I’ll say that with regard to the use of these forces you are right, in the past, my sister-in-law was escorted into the University of Alabama as a result of the federal forces directed by President John Kennedy. That's the way in which these forces should appropriately be used. To deploy the forces without any coordination with local authorities, without any kind of indication that there's a request by local authorities for it to be done, I think runs — it puts us in a very dangerous place. You can’t have an administration in Washington, D.C., using federal resources — federal forces to simply enforce the law in states where, or in cities where it thinks that it wants to project force, especially this administration that is making determinations based on things other than the needs of those local communities and so, I think that Mayor Lightfoot, when she said that, she will accept help if it’s done in an appropriate way, but if it’s not, she will fight the deployment of those — of those forces. That’s — I think that’s an appropriate thing for a mayor to do.
After the bottom of the hour, Reid smugly proclaimed Trump might have had “help from…the Russians” to obtain his wealth and become the “rich, malevolent, really racist man” he’s always been after he “squandered the $370 million he inherited from his tax-dodging daddy.”
She then flew venom in the faces of those who disagree with her on Black Lives Matter and kneeling:
Just this morning, he was flipping out again at athletes who kneel for Black Lives Matter. He has launched a Bull Connor-style freak out urging and then self-implementing violent policing to shut down Black Lives Matter protests, using his own secret police.
And when Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) told her that the Trump administration was “bringing tyranny and police states throughout the country,” Reid concurred: “Yeah. That's a word. You — that’s a word.”
The following advertisers were but a sampling of those that made possible (and thus arguably their endorsement of) Reid’s rampant, vicious lies and venom for law enforcement and those who disagree with her: ADT, Chevy, Liberty Mutual, Mr. Clean, ServPro, and Sleep Number. Follow the links to the MRC’s Conservative Fight Back page for more on how you can, yes, fight back.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from July 21, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
July 21, 2020
7:01 p.m. EasternJOY REID: But as he shirks responsibility for the very real health crisis, he’s deploying a federal police force to combat a fictional one. Trump sent his federal police force, kidded out in camo gear as if they’re a mini army sent to Portland, Oregon, to suppress protesters demonstrating against racial injustice, acting against the will of the governor and the mayor. Trump's forces are snatching people off the streets, forcing them into unmarked vans, reportedly without explanation and now Trump is sending — threatening to send those same dystopian federal police to more American cities and distinctly to cities that happen to be run by Democrats.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I’m going to do something, that I can tell you because we are not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — Oakland is a mess. We are not going to let this happen in our country, all run by liberal Democrats. [SCREEN WIPE] In Portland, they’ve done a fantastic job, they’ve been there three days and they really have done a fantastic job in a short period of time. No problem they grab them, a lot of people in jail, they are leaders. These are anarchists. These are not protesters.
REID: As The New York Times reports, no president in modern times has threatened to send in federal law enforcement over local opposition. But this administration is assembling more federal forces, drawing from a grab bag of agencies like the TSA, Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and the Coast Guard, according The New York Time [sic]. Now, just for reference, here are some of the protests that we have seen in Portland. A peaceful group of moms gathered to demonstrate. But Trump would have you believe that America's cities are criminal wastelands and he’s using the trumped up charge to justify what any other country, particularly an authoritarian, would be called the secret police, responsive only to the Dear Leader. Much like the so-called immigrant migrant caravan that he hyped during his 2018 midterms, this is a new distraction. And as Trump's ominous new campaign ad suggests, it's also a campaign ploy intended to stoke lawlessness fears among white suburban voters ahead of the election. [INTRODUCES SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS] And Donald Trump named Oakland, California, among the cities that he’s now decided are these lawless nightmare cities that need to have his secret police on hand.
(....)
7:05 p.m. Eastern
REID: You know, it's — there's two pieces of it that are ominous,. There's the secret police aspect of it. These sort of unmarked, you know, militaristic-looking forces that are essentially kidnapping people and holding them without —
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): Right.
REID: — any, you know, not even talking to the local officials and just doing it over their will. But also the rhetoric that’s coming out of Washington, just on this sort of — I want to play two pieces of sound for you. One of them is Lori Lightfood, the mayor of Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot was on with us last night and this is what she said about the threat of federal forces coming to her city.
CHICAGO MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D): Our democracy is at stake and I’ll be darned if I'm going to let anybody, even if their name is Mr. President bring those kind of troops to our city and try to take off our residents. That's not going to happen in Chicago.
REID: And here is what I think is one of the most chilling pieces of audio that I have heard in a long time. This is Chad Wolf. He is the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and this is what he’s saying about how much the Trump administration and he himself respect the authority of people like Mayor Lightfoot.
ACTING DHS SECRETARY CHAD WOLF: And I don't need invitations by the state, state mayors, or state governors to do our job, we are going to do it whether they like us there or not.
REID: Is that true? Do they have — do the states have any control over whether these federal secret police come into the town and start arresting people?
(....)
7:10 p.m. Eastern
REID: I want to pick up on what we were discussing — what I was discussing with Senator Harris. These forces that we are seeing deployed in to the streets of America's cities, you know, a generation ago, when federal had forces were deployed in to American cities, it was a relief to people of color because it meant that a little girl may get walked in to school or that a James Meredith could be walked into the University of Mississippi, that they were — you know, the calvary was coming. Now, when federal forces are being deployed into America’s cities, it's to tear gas and abuse people and in some cases just snatch people off the streets without identifying themselves and essentially to kidnap them. It's a secret police sort of, you know, vibe instead of a cavalry. What do you make of what’s happening right now?
ERIC HOLDER: Well, first of all, you know, congratulations on your show. I’m glad that you’re hiring — having me on, hope I’ll be back up many times. I’ll say that with regard to the use of these forces you are right, in the past, my sister-in-law was escorted into the University of Alabama as a result of the federal forces directed by President John Kennedy. That's the way in which these forces should appropriately be used. To deploy the forces without any coordination with local authorities, without any kind of indication that there's a request by local authorities for it to be done, I think runs — it puts us in a very dangerous place. You can’t have an administration in Washington, D.C., using federal resources — federal forces to simply enforce the law in states where, or in cities where it thinks that it wants to project force, especially this administration that is making determinations based on things other than the needs of those local communities and so, I think that Mayor Lightfoot, when she said that, she will accept help if it’s done in an appropriate way, but if it’s not, she will fight the deployment of those — of those forces. That’s — I think that’s an appropriate thing for a mayor to do.
(....)
7:33 p.m. Eastern
REID: [S]ure, [Donald Trump] starred in, you know, for a time, for a time, what was a hit TV show, where he pretended to be a successful businessman, when in fact, he had squandered the $370 million he inherited from his tax-dodging daddy, and he needed help from Deutsche Bank and maybe the Russians, but I digress. What Trump has always been, for those who were paying attention, was playing was a rich, malevolent, really racist man whose insecurities caused him to crave power and celebrity and to lash at people more successful, more powerful, and smarter than he is. Think Barack Obama. And Trump, as President, always plays to type. Just this morning, he was flipping out again at athletes who kneel for Black Lives Matter. He has launched a Bull Connor-style freak out urging and then self-implementing violent policing to shut down Black Lives Matter protests, using his own secret police.
(....)
7:44 p.m. Eastern
CONGRESSWOMAN AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): Do you know what I wish? I wish that Donald Trump and the administration would invest as many energies and time on developing a national testing and contact tracing strategy as they are in bringing tyranny and police states throughout the country.
REID: Yeah. That's a word. You — that’s a word.
