MSNBC's Joy Reid Gets Dunked to Infinity After Making Hilarious Claim About Origins of the Number '538'

Is it easy to dunk on MSNBC’s Joy Reid? Of course it is. She says ridiculous things on a daily basis. Should we stop? No. Reid was given the opportunity from MSNBC earlier this year to expand her platform from just the weekend to five nights a week, so she’s definitely owed a call-out when she commences in making a complete fool of herself (more so than she usually does, anyway).

The latest example of Reid generating howls of laughter from those of us residing in the cheap seats comes courtesy of a tweet she posted last night in which she tried to motivate her followers to “fight!!!!” for the Biden-Harris presidential campaign by alleging that the number “538”, which is the name of supposed polling expert Nate Silver’s website, was inspired by the margin of victory in Florida between Bush and Gore in 2000:

Here's the thing: the reason there's a thing called @FiveThirtyEight is because 538 was the margin in FL when the Republican SCOTUS reversed the 2000 election during a recount, making Dubya the president. That's the kind of margin where races can flip. That's not what's up now.

— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) November 10, 2020

Apparently, she based her “claim” on a note made in CNN reporter Manu Raju’s tweet referencing the 2000 presidential election (his 2000 vs 2020 comparison is misleading and dishonest, but that’s another topic for another day):

Biden’s current lead over Trump:

Georgia – 10,621 votes
Arizona – 17,131 votes
Wisconsin – 20,539
Nevada – 36,186 votes
Pennsylvania – 45,063 votes
Michigan – 147,896

Bush’s 2000 lead over Gore in Florida: 537 votes

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2020

I literally laughed out loud when I read her tweet. I mean, it doesn’t take a Harvard graduate (which she is) to know where the number “538” actually originates from, right?

While some pointed out the seriousness of Reid’s error – what with her being a prominent media figure and spreading what is clearly false information and all:

How is it that MSNBC has someone so stupid on their payroll? 538 is the total number of Electoral College votes. SCOTUS didn't reverse a recount in Florida in 2000. These are the people who yell that Fox News viewers get lied to and this lady is full of shit. https://t.co/YENz9twqeP

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 10, 2020

the scandal isn't her irredeemable stupidity, but that people who know better continue to look the other way as she beclowns herself and her network on the daily. pic.twitter.com/7BrB2VXXC8

— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) November 10, 2020

538 is the number of votes in the Electoral College, Bush never trailed in the 2000 Florida recount, and this person somehow has a primetime show on MSNBC https://t.co/GNXPaVj9s9

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 10, 2020

Joy. I mean it takes one internet search. How did you graduate from Harvard?? https://t.co/FvVXHgbJcJ pic.twitter.com/QRanTyjXD7

— Matt Dawson (@SaintRPh) November 10, 2020

…others went the “mockery” route which was, naturally, much more satisfying to read:

I thought 538 was the number of homophobic blog posts you made. https://t.co/0ou9aYbXFb

— Blue State Snooze (@BlueSnoozeBlue) November 10, 2020

Here's the thing: the reason there's a place called 7/11 is because you can buy 7 to 11 slurpees while you're there. https://t.co/mSx0FNaGqW

— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) November 10, 2020

Here’s the thing: the reason they’re called the 49ers is because 49 was the lead the team had when Patrick Mahomes turned it on and just absolutely smoked us in the super bowl. That’s the kind of margin where games flip pic.twitter.com/viUzoZoSCT

— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) November 10, 2020

As I’ve previously reported, this is far from Reid’s first time spreading wrong information about current events. A couple of weeks ago, Reid asserted that “all it took was three people to die” in order for Trump to get the opportunity to nominate three Supreme Court Justices. In reality, two died (Ginsburg and Scalia). The other (Kennedy) retired.

Prior to that Reid, actually suggested that a “President-elect” Joe Biden name his own Supreme Court nominee after the election in the event Amy Coney Barrett wasn’t confirmed, apparently not realizing that Presidents-elect don’t get to make nominations to the courts because “President-elect” is not actually a government position.

While we can never rely on Reid to give readers and viewers accurate information as to what’s going on in the world of politics, what we can count on from her without fail is her uncanny ability to unintentionally provide some comic relief to nearly every situation this country finds itself in on any given day.

Whether or not that’s a good or a bad thing is something I’ll leave for readers to discuss. 😉