Joy Reid suggests Trump radicalizes supporters in the same way 'Muslims act'
MSNBC's Joy Reid made the suggestion that Trump supporters are 'radicalized' by the president during a segment on her show.
MSNBC host Joy Reid addressed her controversial remarks that led critics to accuse her of Islamophobia Wednesday, but did not offer an apology, instead suggesting the criticism was "not in good faith."
During a panel discussion on Monday's edition of "The ReidOut," Reid had accused President Trump of "radicalizing" his supporters, comparing them to Islamic extremists.
"Leaders, let's say in the Muslim world, talk a lot of violent talk and encourage their supporters to be willing to commit violence, including on their own bodies, in order to win against whoever they decide is the enemy," Reid had said. "We in the U.S. media describe that as they are radicalizing those people -- particularly when they're radicalizing young people. That's how we talk about the way Muslims act. When you see what Donald Trump is doing, is that any different from what we describe as radicalizing people?"
OMAR, TLAIB CALL ON MSNBC HOST TO APOLOGIZE AFTER COMMENTS DEEMED ISLAMOPHOBIC
On Wednesday, Reid closed the show with an expanded discussion about Trump's "radicalization" of his supporters and how Muslims are unfairly depicted as terrorists in the mainstream media.
"If Trump was a Muslim leader, not the leader of the Christian right, how would we in the media describe what he's doing?" she began. "I asked that question on Monday and there was a lot of conversation, particularly online, after the segment aired, some of which was frankly not in good faith."
"But some of the conversation reflected the genuine feelings of people who have been subjected to the kind of stereotyping that I described and who take matters like this to heart because of it. And we should all be sensitive to that and I certainly should have been sensitive to that."
The host acknowledged to her panel that her comments were "not exactly the most artful way of asking that question."
One of her panelists, Dalia Mogahed of the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, praised Reid for her treatment of her Muslim guests, but pointed out that the host's remarks had "landed" as offensive and told her it was "important to correct that notion for your millions of viewers."
Prominent Muslims, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., had called on Reid to apologize for the initial remarks Tuesday.
"Honestly, this kinda of casual Islamophobia is hurtful and dangerous," Omar tweeted. "We deserve better and an apology for the painful moment for so many Muslims around our country should be forthcoming."
"Words matter and these words feed into the harmful anti-Muslim rhetoric & actions that we continue to see in this country," Tlaib concurred. "It is even more painful to hear it from someone I admire. We deserve an apology."
The civil rights organization Muslim Advocates repeatedly called on Reid to apologize, tweeting shortly before the program aired Wednesday that she "must acknowledge that she spread the harmful stereotype that all Muslims are violent — not only on Monday but also on her old blog. This is not asking for much. It's just asking for the same dignity she's shown to other communities."
Reid previously landed in hot water over blog posts she had written years ago that offended Muslims and the LGBT community.
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After homophobic comments first surfaced in 2017, Reid issued an apology, calling her remarks “insensitive, tone deaf and dumb” and vowed to “do better” going forward.
However, after Mediaite found even more articles in April 2018, Reid claimed that an “unknown, external party accessed and manipulated material” on her old blog and “fabricated” the offensive entries and that she was working with a “cyber-security expert” and “notified federal law enforcement officials.”
Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.