On Monday’s episode of ReidOut on MSNBC, host Joy Reid made a startling and misleading claim during her opening monologue, asserting that both of the recent would-be assassins targeting 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump were “white, American, Trump-supporting men with guns.”
This statement, while dramatic, doesn’t align with the facts regarding the motivations of the attackers, especially in the case of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man involved in the most recent attempt on Trump’s life.
Reid’s comments also delved into other controversial territory, accusing Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, of using unfounded claims about migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, to distract from campaign troubles. According to Reid, these claims were not only a political distraction but also an attempt to stoke fear and lay the groundwork for potential mass deportations if Trump were to be re-elected.
But it was Reid’s conclusion that truly stood out: “All of this as Trump faces his second brush with death, via a gunman shooting at him in Palm Beach, Florida, just as happened in Pennsylvania, neither of whom were Haitian or any kind of immigrant. Both of whom are white, American, Trump-supporting men with guns.” This sweeping statement distorts the reality of the situation, particularly regarding Ryan Routh.
The facts about Routh’s background and motivations paint a very different picture. Routh, the alleged assailant in the Palm Beach attack, is a self-described leftist, a supporter of Kamala Harris, and someone who actively criticized Trump. He had called Trump a threat to democracy, voted in Democratic primaries, and even authored a book urging Iran to assassinate the former president. His motives were clearly rooted in left-wing extremism, not support for Trump, as Reid falsely suggested.
Reid’s attempt to frame both attackers as Trump supporters conveniently ignores Routh’s political leanings, which are well-documented and decidedly anti-Trump. The narrative Reid pushed on her show is part of a broader effort to obscure the real motivations behind these violent incidents, downplaying the role that left-wing extremism played in Routh’s actions.
The rhetoric on display is dangerous, as it misinforms viewers and promotes a false equivalency between political violence on the right and left. By distorting facts to fit a particular narrative, Reid risks contributing to the very atmosphere of political tension and division she claims to be critiquing.
Furthermore, her suggestion that Trump and Vance’s comments about Springfield migrants are somehow inciting violence in the city shifts focus away from the real issue at hand—the political violence aimed at a former president.
