Joy Reid

Over the weekend, I received the following email from a RedState reader:

Subject: Grossly irresponsible reporting and analysis

RedState is leading the charge in disinformation on the current public health crisis — and you’re going to get a lot of people killed.
Example — “only a small percentage of those hospitalized will die.”
It’s about a third. If you put two rounds into a revolver to play Russian roulette, would you call that a “small chance of death?”
Please start verifying basic facts. You’re entitled to your opinion, but lying about life and death risk probabilities is grossly irresponsible. Please stop.

Funny, I’d never thought of RedState as a disinformation site. Then, a colleague, Nick Arama, posted a story about Jen Rubin saying there would be fewer Democrats dying from the coronavirus than Republicans, because Republicans are downplaying the crisis.

And then I heard the mother of them all from MSNBC political analyst Eric Boehlert, who appeared on Joy Reid’s program, “AM Joy.” This is the same Joy Reid who blamed hackers after old homophobic posts she had written surfaced two years ago. I didn’t believe her then and I don’t believe her now.

Reid opened the segment by telling Boehlert about a Washington Post op-ed which called on Rupert Murdoch to force Fox News to start telling the truth about the coronavirus. She said:

There is an op-ed in the Washington Post that says that Rupert Murdoch could actually save lives by forcing Fox News to tell the truth about the coronavirus right now. And this is just a piece of it: “And so, so let’s acknowledge the obvious: there is no more important player in influencing Trump than Fox News. And no more powerful figure at Fox than its patriarch. Murdoch might consider, too, that with the median age of Fox viewers around 65, they’re among the most vulnerable to the virus’s threats.”

As a media analyst for a very long time, do you see any possibility that Fox may want to try to save its own viewers by forcing this narrative to change? Because it’s true, if they change their narrative, it’s not true if they follow Trump or Trump follows them, but they will act together.

Boehlert responded:

Right. Anyone waiting for Rupert Murdoch to do the honorable thing is going to wait a very, very long time, after someone who’s watched him for 20 years. Look, Fox News has been getting people killed for years. I mean, Just look at their crusade against affordable health care, their crusade against expanding Medicaid. This is not unusual for them. It’s far more dire. I mean, I’ve been watching and documenting Fox News for 15 years. I mean, they are a cancer on this country. There’s no question about it. So who knows what they’re going to do? Their programming is to vilify, stir hatred and paranoia. And if it’s a pandemic that’s the backdrop, then they’re going to do it.

Afterward, Boehlert took to Twitter to tell followers: “raise yr [sic] hand if you’ve lost a loved one to Fox News.”

also this pt is key:

-Fox News brainwashes, plain an simple. (raise yr hand if you've lost a loved one to Fox News.) and when viewers are brainwashed they believe *everything,* even lies abt a pandemic. pic.twitter.com/rxVfibWqKf

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) March 15, 2020

Then, Cenk Uygur, who became a bit impatient at the airport recently and made an arshloch of himself, weighed in.

I can’t wait to see if studies after #CoronavirusOutbreak show Republicans got it on average more because they listened to ignorant politicians like @DevinNunes & @realDonaldTrump who told them to ignore science & experts. Unfortunately, they’re about to find out science is real. https://t.co/5CKZj6n7Xa

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) March 16, 2020

I am convinced that Nancy Pelosi phones in her desired talking points to someone at the DNC who then disseminates them to all of the left-leaning media outlets. We’ve seen enough montages of liberal commentators all spouting the same messages on the same day using the same words.

I’m 61. I hope I don’t contract the coronavirus, just as I hope I don’t get the flu. I’ll do everything I can to minimize my chances. but if I should get it, I’m pretty sure I’ll survive. This isn’t ebola.

Do networks like CNN and MSNBC wonder why they’ve lost significant numbers of viewers to Fox over the last few years? They’ve lied to their viewers over and over again. Here is a partial list:

Trump colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 election.

Trump Jr. colluded with Russians at Trump Tower.

Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause. He is profiting from his presidency.

Trump is a racist. Trump is a white supremacist.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in the early 80s. (Not even her own father believed her.)

Trump threatened to hold back aid to Ukraine unless they announced they were opening an investigation into the Bidens.

Trump said the coronavirus is a hoax.

Trump has mishandled the coronavirus. His slow response is the reason we’re in this position today.

This is nothing more than the kick-off of a new disinformation campaign.

Watch the video below.

MSNBC "analyst" @EricBoehlert claims "Fox News has been getting people killed for years."

And the mainstream media wonders why the American people can't stand them? pic.twitter.com/GvzQ3by2nF

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 15, 2020