MSNBC host Joy Reid insisted that President Joe Biden’s potential recovery from COVID-19 would be “exactly the same” as former President Donald Trump dodging the killer bullet during the network’s coverage of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night.
Biden was found to have contracted COVID for the second time during his presidency earlier in the day, when the RNC held its third night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Reid, who was described by two pols as “old”, first hit the Secret Service pulling Trump off Butler, PA stage after the gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former commander in chief in front of many stunned public gatherings.
“These two people are old. Donald Trump is an old man who, for whatever reason,” Reid said, “is given nine seconds to take a good photo-op in an active shooter situation. Weird situation, we’ll find out one day.
Reid then compared Trump’s avoidance of a would-be-killer shot as “exactly the same” as Biden’s recovery and return from COVID.
“The President of the United States is now 81 years old and has COVID, is he going to be fine for a few days, isn’t it the same thing?” Reid said. “If he’s strong enough – older than Trump – he’s got something that can affect people his age. So, if he does well and comes back and can hold a rally, isn’t that the same?
Reid later appeared to backtrack on the comments, saying: “I mean it’s not exactly the same, it’s not the same thing, it’s a sick old man.”
Reid shared the network’s dais with former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who joined the network in May 2022 after leaving the administration, and nodded along to Reid’s decision before adding, “It should,” according to a video of the segment.
Reid also suggested that Biden could use the diagnosis to remind Americans of the dangers of COVID and “what hell we’re going through with COVID because of Donald Trump” and promote his campaign.
“This is a great messaging opportunity for President Biden to go on the record and remind those who died; millions of people are no longer with us,” he added. “People’s grandmothers are dying alone with iPads. It’s a great messaging opportunity if the White House chooses to take it.
Reid has been a consistent critic of Trump and also received some blowback for comments he made about assassination attempts and political violence on Monday — seemingly suggesting that Trump brought the shooting on with his own violent rhetoric.
He described the incident with people “pacing” and acting “menacing” during the 2016 RNC in Cleveland, Ohio, a moment Reid said was the only time he was afraid to do his job, according to Fox News.
“The idea of ​​political violence that has been going on since then is very dangerous,” he said. “It is very dangerous if you cannot avoid the consequences, even if you are one of the people who promote it.”
Biden was in Las Vegas to give a speech to a Latino advocacy group, but quickly boarded Air Force One for a trip back to his Delaware vacation home when he learned of the diagnosis.
The president landed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware around 10:30 a.m. local time and told reporters he was “fine,” the Post reported today.
Biden and Trump are locked in a very different political battle as the 2024 presidential race moves forward.
The current commander-in-chief is still trying to fend off calls for other Democrats to run against Trump in the fall after a disastrous debate performance last month.
Trump, whose polls show Biden leading in key swing states, has seen his status only grow among Republicans and in polls since the shooting that left him with an injury to his right ear.
