Joy Reid said her phrasing of a question that sought to compare how American media uses the word “radicalizing” in reference to Muslims compared to Christian Trump supporters was not “artful” and that she “should’ve been sensitive” to the harmful stereotypes of how Muslims are portrayed in the media.
“If Trump was a Muslim leader, not the leader of the Christian right, how would we in the media describe what he is doing? I asked that question on Monday, and there was a lot of conversation, particularly online, after the segment aired — some of which was, frankly, not in good faith,” Reid said on her Wednesday show. “But some of the conversation reflected the genuine feelings of people who had been subjected to the kind of stereotyping that I just described and who take matters like this to heart because of it. And we should all be sensitive to that, and I certainly should’ve been sensitive to that.”
On Monday, Reid said during a segment, “When leaders, let’s say in the Muslim world, talk a lot of violent talk and encourage their supporters to be willing to commit violence, including on their own bodies, in order to win against whoever they decide is the enemy, we in the U.S. media describe that as they are ‘radicalizing’ those people — particularly when they’re radicalizing young people. That’s how we talk about the way Muslims act. When you see what Donald Trump is doing, is that any different from what we describe as radicalizing people?”
The question led figures like Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, as well as groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, to call on Reid to apologize for her comment, which they described as hurtful and Islamophobic. President Trump also weighed in and said MSNBC should fire Reid, albeit misquoting the MSNBC host.
CAIR, which initially thanked NBC News for a meeting the council said took place Wednesday and called on Reid to apologize, released a statement after the show saying Reid’s response was “disappointing.”
“‘I was wrong. I apologize.’ @JoyAnnReid’s refusal to say that tonight was telling & disappointing. Although shedding light on Islamophobia with help from @DaliaMogahed was welcome, you must first own your own mistakes. Don’t deflect. Don’t distract. Just do the right thing,” the organization tweeted late Wednesday night.
For her part, Reid declared her original statement “not exactly the most artful way of asking that question, obviously, based on the reaction.”
“To be clear, the vast majority of the more than 1 billion Muslims on the planet, and the millions in this country, are decidedly unradical, everyday people just living their lives,” Reid also said. “It’s the misportrayal that’s the problem, not the people. And we’re all real quick to call out those who seek to radicalize the small number of mostly young men who are vulnerable to being co-opted by violent people. There have been lengthy treatments of this all over cable news for years. But when white Christians are radicalized, we don’t react the same way. When was the last time Donald Trump or anyone in his campaign was asked if they are willing to condemn the Boogaloo Boys by name? Does Bill Barr ever get asked about them?”
All the Broadway Shows Killed (and Postponed) Due to Coronavirus Shutdown
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed Broadway theaters on March 12, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York theater scene was heating up ahead of the Tony Awards -- with 31 shows playing and another eight scheduled to begin performances by mid-April. Now the theaters will remain dark until at least September -- and the Tony Awards have been postponed indefinitely. But the uncertainty of when theaters (and Broadway-bound tourists) might return has forced some producers to close shows early -- or push new productions to sometime in the future.
Getty Images
Closed: "Hangmen"
Martin McDonagh’s new comedy, starring Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey") and Mark Addy ("Game of Thrones"), announced March 20 it would not reopen after playing 13 preview performances ahead of an expected March 19 official opening.
Getty Images
Closed: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
The revival of Edward Albee's classic drama, starring Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett, had played just nine preview performances before Broadway went dark. With the scheduled April 9 official opening off the table, producers decided to close the show on March 21.
Getty Images
Postponed: "Flying Over Sunset"
The new musical by composer Tom Kitt ("Next to Normal," pictured), lyricist Michael Korie ("Grey Gardens") and book writer James Lapine ("Into the Woods") was scheduled to begin performances on March 12 ahead of an official April 16 opening. On March 24, the Lincoln Center Theater announced the show's opening would be pushed to the fall -- and then in June pushed it back until spring 2021.
Getty Images
Postponed: "Birthday Candles"
Noah Haidle's play, starring Debra Messing and Andre Braugher, was due to begin performances in early April. But on March 25, Roundabout Theatre Company announced it would open this fall instead.
Postponed: "Caroline, or Change"
Roundabout also delayed the opening of its revival of the Jeanine Tesori-Tony Kushner musical "Caroline, or Change," starring Sharon D. Clarke in an Olivier Award-winning performance. The show had been set for an April 7 opening at Studio 54.
Getty Images
Postponed: "How I Learned to Drive"
Manhattan Theatre Club announced on April 7 it was postponing a Mary-Louise Parker-led revival of "How I Learned to Drive" to the 2020-21 season. The Pulitzer-winning drama, with David Morse as co-star, was due to open April 22, just before the cutoff for this year's Tony Awards.
Getty Images
Closed: "Beetlejuice"
The Tony-nominated musical was being evicted from the Winter Garden Theatre on June 6 (even though ticket sales had dramatically improved over the fall and winter). Now producers are hoping to find a new theater when Broadway opens up, though there's no guarantee that will happen. The adaptation of Tim Burton's 1988 movie played played 27 previews and 366 regular performances.
Postponed: "Plaza Suite"
A new revival of Neil Simon's comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will now play March 19, 2021 through July 18, 2021. The show had been expected to begin previews at the Hudson Theater on March 13, the day after theaters were shut down.
Getty Images
Postponed: "MJ"
The new Michael Jackson musical, starring Tony nominee Ephraim Sykes as the late King of Pop, had been planning to begin performances in July for an August opening. But now it's pushed back its debut to next spring, with a new opening night set for April 15, 2021.
Closed: "Frozen"
Disney's stage version of the animated hit "Frozen" became the first long-running show to close due to the pandemic. The Tony-nominated show opened in March 2018 and played 825 performances and 26 previews.
Postponed: "The Music Man"
A new revival of the classic musical starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster was set to begin performances in September for an official opening on Oct. 15. But in June, the production announced that the opening night would be pushed back to
Getty Images
Closed: "Mean Girls"
The musical, which Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond adapted from Fey's 2004 movie, opened in April 2018 and played 805 performances before the pandemic shut it down. On Jan. 7, 2011, producers announced the show would not reopen.
Photo: Joan Marcus
Postponed: The Tony Awards
Since there's no word yet on when Broadway performances might resume, the Broadway League on March 25 indefinitely postponed this year's Tony Awards, which had been scheduled for June 7 at Radio City Music Hall. Though nominations were announced in October 2020, no date has been set for the ceremony.
Getty Images
1 of 14
”The Music Man“ with Hugh Jackman and other shows won’t reopen until 2021
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed Broadway theaters on March 12, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York theater scene was heating up ahead of the Tony Awards -- with 31 shows playing and another eight scheduled to begin performances by mid-April. Now the theaters will remain dark until at least September -- and the Tony Awards have been postponed indefinitely. But the uncertainty of when theaters (and Broadway-bound tourists) might return has forced some producers to close shows early -- or push new productions to sometime in the future.