MSNBC host Joy Reid, in an unhinged rant on social media, asserted without evidence that the long-term goal of Republican voters is to impose "unbreakable rule by far right Christian ideologues" on the country.
In a string of flaming hot takes fired off Tuesday, Reid claimed that Republicans are appealing to pro-rape and pro-child marriage voters to win elections.
"The greatest, and sickest irony of the @GOP's new political strategy is that they are appealing to the most prurient fears of white Christian parents, while passing bills and maintaining alliances that normalize child brides and rape as a legitimate means of procreation," Reid began.
The greatest, and sickest irony of the @GOP's new political strategy is that they are appealing to the most prurient fears of white Christian parents, while passing bills and maintaining alliances that normalize child brides and rape as a legitimate means of procreation.
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649204626
"If Democrats were anything like Republicans, they'd long ago have begun calling them the pro-rape, pro child marriage party," she continued, accusing Repubicans of "forcing women to be child-birthing slaves of the state" and "banning the teaching of what slavery is to keep the chattel docile."
The MSNBC host did not provide evidence that Republicans have passed bills that "normalize child brides" or make rape "a legitimate means of procreation." These claims are false.
In the past she's attacked abortion restrictions supported by Republicans, such as the Texas fetal heartbeat law that bans abortions after six weeks, as some kind of "American Taliban" and made comparisons between GOP laws and the dystopian Hulu series "The Handmaid's Tale." She has also claimed that Republican states attempting to ban critical race theory are teaching students "Confederate race theory" instead, as Fox News has reported.
It is unclear what prompted her latest rant, although she referred to an MSNBC segment with host Chris Hayes that discussed GOP attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's record in child pornography cases. Republicans have accused Jackson of being soft on crime and child predators in particular, and Hayes tied their line of attack to Q-Anon conspiracy theories, accusing Republicans of hypocrisy because in his view they have not adequately condemned child predators in their own party, such as disgraced former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former Rep. Mark Foley, and former Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Reid insisted she was not "exaggerating" by citing two 2017 articles from the Federalist encouraging Alabama voters to support Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct. During the 2017 special election for Senate in Alabama, a woman came forward with allegations that Moore had pursued a sexual encounter with her four decades earlier, when she was just 14 and he was 32. Moore has denied the allegations.
And here's another, in which the @FDRLST gives away the game: all that matters is the SCOTUS. Because it is through the Supreme Court, that the white Christian right hopes to impose its Taliban code and procreation-centered ideology on us all. #underhiseyehttps://thefederalist.com/2017/11/28/justified-vote-morally-questionable-politician/\u00a0\u2026
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649206894
The first article she referred to is an op-ed by a philosophy professor at Ouachita Baptist University that downplayed the age difference between Moore and his accuser at the time of the alleged encounter as "not an uncommon occurrence during this time" and "not without some merit if one wants to raise a large family." The second is an op-ed by D.C. McAllister, who argued more broadly that a political candidate's character should not be the only concern for voters.
Armed with the opinions of two people from a single publication with numerous writers and diverse guest columnists, Reid denounced all conservative ideology as "Putinite fascism mixed with Talibanism."
"And it's what they hope to impose on us: unbreakable rule by far right Christian ideologues, coal & oil polluters, heeled corporations & the super rich. With all rights hoarded by white Christian men & everyone else under firm control," Reid tweeted.
Fascist America is not gonna be a great place to live, folks, at least not for women and people of color. It can still be prevented, but y'all have got to wake up. And yeah, Democrats are largely uninspiring and terrible fighters. But they're all that stands between us and them.
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649206896
"Fascist America is not gonna be a great place to live, folks, at least not for women and people of color. It can still be prevented, but y'all have got to wake up. And yeah, Democrats are largely uninspiring and terrible fighters. But they're all that stands between us and them," she concluded.