MSNBC host Joy Reid argued during the network’s coverage of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night that President Joe Biden’s chances of recovering from COVID-19 would be “the exact same thing” as former President Donald Trump dodging an assassin’s bullet.
On the same day that the Republican National Convention was celebrating its third night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it was revealed that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time during his presidency.
Describing both politicians as “senile,” Reid began by referring to the Secret Service dragging Trump off a stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday after gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president in front of a stunned rally crowd.
“These are two elderly people. Donald Trump is an elderly man, and for some reason he was given nine seconds in the middle of a mass shooting to take an iconic photo. It’s a strange situation, but it will unravel,” Reed said.
Reid later likened Trump’s evasion of an assassin’s shot to “the exact same thing” as Biden’s recovery from COVID-19.
“The current president of the United States is 81 years old, he has COVID, he should recover in a few days, so wouldn’t that be the exact same thing,” Reid said. “He’s older than Trump, and he’s strong enough to have a disease that was once really deadly for someone his age. So if he recovers from COVID and comes back and is able to hold rallies, wouldn’t that be the exact same thing?”
Mr Reid later appeared to backtrack, saying: “It’s not the same exact thing, it’s not the same incident. It’s just an older man recovering from an illness.”
Reade, who spoke at the network’s podium alongside former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who left the administration to join the network in May 2022, nodded to Reade’s sentiment and added, “That’s the way it should be.” According to the video of that part.
Reid also suggested Biden could use the diagnosis to boost his campaign by reminding Americans of the dangers of COVID-19 and “the hell we’ve been through with COVID-19 because of Donald Trump.”
“This is a great messaging opportunity for President Biden to put out the tapes and remind people how many people died, that a million people are no longer with us,” she added. “People’s grandmas died alone, with their iPads in their hands. It’s a great opportunity, a messaging opportunity, if that’s what the White House chooses to do.”
Reid has been a consistent critic of President Trump and came under fire for comments he made about Monday’s assassination attempt and political violence, in which he appeared to suggest that Trump had invited the shooting with his violent rhetoric.
She recounted an incident at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where a man was “walking around” and behaving “menacingly.” Reed said the moment was the only time she’d ever been scared at work. According to Fox News.
“The idea of political violence that we’ve had ever since is so dangerous,” she said. “So dangerous that even if you’re one of the promoters of it, you can’t avoid the consequences.”
Biden had been in Las Vegas to speak to a Latino advocacy group, but boarded Air Force One to return to his Delaware resort as soon as he learned of his diagnosis.
The president arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware around 10:30 p.m. local time and told reporters he was “in good spirits.”
As the 2024 presidential election progresses, Biden and Trump will find themselves in very different political battles.
The current president is still trying to fend off calls for another Democrat to step aside to face Trump in the fall after a disastrous performance in last month’s debate.
Trump, who is leading Biden in key battleground states in opinion polls, has seen his popularity among Republican voters soar since the shooting that left him injured in his right ear.
