MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid has sparked fury by twisting the case of Kyle Rittenhouse and bringing his race into the debate – mocking him for his ‘white tears’ and likening him to Brett Kavanaugh for crying when faced with devastating accusations.
Reid was commenting on Wednesday on the Rittenhouse trial, as the jury concluded deliberations after a second day.
Rittenhouse, 18, who is white, shot and killed two white protesters and injured a third amid chaotic scenes in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. The unrest in the city was sparked by a white police officer shooting a black motorist, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back and leaving him paralyzed.
On November 10 the teenager sobbed on the stand while he recounted the shooting.
‘So, it’s the Kyle Rittenhouse trial,’ said Reid in a TikTok, accompanied by a soundtrack.
‘It reminded a lot of people of something… something – I can’t remember what it was.
‘Oh, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.
‘In which Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused by a high school friend of committing sexual abuse of her, cried his way through the hearings to make him a permanent member – an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.’
Joy-Ann Reid, a MSNBC anchor, published a TikTok on Wednesday calling Rittenhouse a ‘Karen’ who used his tears to try and win sympathy – just like, she said, Brett Kavanaugh
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, broke down on the witness stand on November 10. He is on trial for the killing of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber in Kenosha, Wisconsin
He recalled the moment he was ‘ambushed’ by Joseph Rosenbaum the night he shot him dead and his testimony became emotional as he told his side of the August 2020 event.
Brett Kavanaugh is seen fighting back tears as he defends himself against allegations of sexual assault in September 2018, during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing before his eventual appointment to the Supreme Court
Reid, 52, said that Kavanaugh’s tears of fury when he was accused of sexual assault were ‘powerful’, and propelled him to a seat on the Supreme Court.
‘And his tears turned out to be more powerful than the tears of Christine Blasey Ford. Which were the tears of an alleged victim,’ she said.
‘But in America, there’s a thing about both white vigilantism and white tears – particularly male white tears.
Rittenhouse in August 2020 with his rifle in August 2020
‘Really, white tears in general – because that’s what Karens are, right?
‘They Karen out, and then as soon as they get caught it’s – bring the waterworks.
‘White men can get away with that too.
‘And it has the same effect – even as the right tries to politicize the idea that masculinity is being robbed from American men by multiculturalism and wokeism.
‘They still want to be able to have their tears.’
Reid is no stranger to controversy.
She described concerned Virginia parents as racist for caring about education, and called Americans who were angry at President Joe Biden ungrateful.
In December 2017, old blog posts were unearthed in which she speculated that the then-Republican governor of Florida was a closeted gay man and married a woman as a coverup; posted comments ridiculing lesbians; condemned gay sex and shared offensive gay stereotypes.
She initially claimed her blog had been hacked, and the homophobic comments added, but then later apologized for any offense.
Her mockery of Rittenhouse and framing the shootings as racially motivated – Rittenhouse’s supporters and legal team insist it was self-defense – caused widespread anger.
Conservative commentator Leo Terrell, who is black, accused Reid – who is also black – of racism.
‘Joy Reid – something is wrong with her,’ he said, speaking on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Wednesday night.
‘She is the queen of racism. She has a problem with white men.
‘And her reference to two situations, where she said things from the 50s. What do you mean the 50s? This man, Kyle Rittenhouse, did not kill any black people so I don’t know her reference to the 50s.
‘And she is not a lawyer. And how dare she attack this judge and claim he’s biased?
‘She’s not a lawyer; she’s incompetent to answer these questions.
‘Shame on her, and shame on MSNBC.’
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday accused Reid of stoking racial divisions and tribalism – referencing the horrors of Rwanda, where in 1994 two rival groups, Hutus and Tutsis, turned on each other and 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.
Leo Terrell appeared on Hannity on Wednesday night and said he was furious at Reid’s comments, calling her the ‘queen of racism’
Leo Terrell: Shame on MSNBC! How Dare Joy Reid, Who is Not a Lawyer, Attack Rittenhouse Judge Claiming He is Bias! Offensive and Wrong! pic.twitter.com/bMleejxsv1
— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index (@alexdatig) November 18, 2021
The murderous rampage was encouraged by broadcasters on local radio stations, and Carlson drew a parallel between their inflammatory statements and Reid’s.
‘Tribalism has been around for as long as people have been around,’ he said.
‘It’s never gone away. It just lurks beneath the surface of societies, all societies. One of the main goals of any civilization is to suppress tribalism so we can live together without killing one another. So you should be concerned when it reemerges in public, and boy has it.’
He played the clip of Reid’s TikTok, and remarked: ‘So, that is a currently employed MSNBC anchor, another Harvard graduate, not an employee of a Radio Rwanda.
‘White tears!’ She mocks the very idea,’ said Carlson, before again impersonating Reid.
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night likened Reid to the Rwandan radio broadcasters who stirred up racial hatred in 1994
‘People that evil can’t cry. They don’t have human emotions because they’re not really human. You don’t have to care about them, they don’t qualify for your compassion. You can laugh as they weep and feel good about it.
‘You often hear the word ‘dehumanize,” he said.
‘What does it mean? That’s what it looks like. So you wonder how long this can go on in our country before something really important breaks.’
The condemnation was swift on social media.
‘What a crazy old racist Joy Reid is,’ said Douglas Murray, associate editor of The Spectator.
Conservative commentator Melissa Tate agreed, tweeting: ‘Joy Reid operates under the same spirit of hatred & racism the kkk & nazi’s operate under. Just replace the word white with Jew every time she speaks & she sounds like Hitler on in 1933.
‘The left has engineered a society where it’s ok to openly spew vile racism towards whites.’
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine said: ‘They try to make the Rittenhouse case about race but it’s about class. Wealthy elitists like Joy Reid and Joe Scarborough and Joe Biden punch down at the white working class son of a single mother because they don’t see him as fully human and it makes them feel good.’
Political commentator Dave Rubin said: ‘There is no mainstream “journalist” more racist than Joy Reid.’
Author Nick Adams, who shot to fame when Donald Trump tweeted favorable reviews of his book, agreed.
‘Joy Reid is the biggest racist on cable,’ he said.
Gunther Eagleman, a retired policeman turned conservative commentator, said: ‘MSNBC pays Joy Reid to race bait… Period.’
Newsmax host Greg Kelly tweeted: ‘WOW!!!! IN YOUR FACE RACISM!
‘it’s a hateful RANT against white Men and Women. Some dumb dumb exec at NBC condones this crap. ANGRY JOY HATES THE WORLD!’
And podcast host Stephen Miller joked that Reid may soon try – as with her 2017 blog posts – to claim that her clip was faked.
‘6 years from now Joy Reid will be telling everyone her TikTok was hacked by homophobic time travelers and demanding the FBI investigate,’ he said.
Reid’s mockery of Rittenhouse’s tears echoed that of Hollywood stars, who called him a bad actor who was ‘fake crying’.
‘This is how the first take of a crying scene can look,’ said Gossip Girl actor Kevin Zegers.
‘Weeks of anxiety to push the tears out and you come up empty.’
Basketball superstar LeBron James retweeted the video with the caption: ‘What tears????? I didn’t see one. Man knock it off! That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court.’
The tweet was the first time the Los Angeles Lakers star has spoken out about the Rittenhouse trial since it began last week.
Many stars responded to James’ remark with their own jokes about the teen’s ‘acting coach.’
Dominic Patten, an editor for Deadline, wrote: ‘Bad acting coach, crocodile tears — but perfect for Judge to give Rittenhouse a stern slap on the wrist & proclaim justice done. Ain’t that America?’
Other stars were quick to come to James’ defense. Gossip Girl actor Kevin Zegers wrote that the teen’s tears were similar to the ‘first take of a crying scene’ and that Rittenhouse came up ’empty.’ Deadline editor Dominic Patten and Blood and Treasure co-creator Matthew Federman agreed and questioned the teen’s ‘acting coach’
The co-creator of Amazon Prime show Blood and Treasure Matthew Federman also compared Rittenhouse’s ‘fake tears’ to Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s, who also cried while being questioned by Congress over sexual assault allegations.
‘Having Kavanaugh confirmation hearing flashbacks from seeing clips of Rittenhouse’s performance. Do self-victimizing white dudes all go to the same acting coach?”
Chad Lindberg, an actor in the Fast and Furious franchise, wrote: ‘Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer and terrible f**king actor…’
In another post, the actor called out Rittenhouse’s ‘fanboys.’
‘I didn’t realize #KyleRittenhouse had so many fanboys,’ the actor said.
Blacklist writer Pat Cunnane wrote: ‘I don’t know if Kyle Rittenhouse was fake crying. I do know that he crossed state lines and shot three people, killing two of them. I also know that if he weren’t white, he’d probably wouldn’t be on trial. Because he’d be dead.’
Other stars were harsher and reminded their followers that Rittenhouse is a ‘murderer’ and that America needs to redefine what a ‘promising young man’ looks like
Indian-American feminist and TV show host Padma Lakshmi retweeted a post by The Volatile Mermaid that read: ‘Good thing Kyle Rittenhouse was just a harmless white kid with an AR-15 and not a scary Black kid with a toy gun or he’d be dead.’
The TV show host wrote in response: ‘Time for America to redefine what it means to be a “promising young man.”‘
Actress and director Rosanna Arquette bluntly wrote: ‘Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer. The End.’
Star Trek actor George Takei, who played Sulu on the show, called out Judge Schroeder and the defense attorneys in the Ahmaud Arbery trial happening in Georgia for ‘systemic racism’ and encouraged the teaching of critical race theory.
He wrote: ‘The judge in Kenosha, WI and the defense attorney in Glynn County, GA are doing a good job of showing why we DO need to examine systemic racism in our legal institutions – which is what critical race theory actually is about.’
‘If you want to see how justice often leans hard toward privilege, watch the judge in the Rittenhouse case. A deplorable example, indeed,’ he also tweeted.
He later tweeted: ‘So, did this judge in the Rittenhouse case just get up one day and say, “I’m going to make a total ass of myself before the entire nation?” Because that’s how he’s going to be remember. As how not to act when you’re a judge.’
Star Trek George Takei, who has been publicly open about his opinion on the case on multiple occasions, wrote that the country needs to ‘examine systemic racism’ and that Rittenhouse’s case is being swayed by ‘privilege’
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020.
Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin.
Rittenhouse has been charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering safety.
A further count of illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor was dropped on Monday.
The 18-year-old faces life in prison if convicted.
Police forces across America are preparing for civil unrest in reaction to the looming verdict in the case that is widely believed to end in a mistrial or an acquittal.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers have asked for a mistrial because prosecutors introduced banned evidence, and on Wednesday it emerged they had shown the jury a different version of a video shown to the jury.
Some legal experts have now suggested it was a deliberate move to throw the trial as their chances of convicting grew narrower.
The governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, has called up 500 members of the National Guard, who remain on standby 60 miles outside Kenosha.
There were largely peaceful protests outside the courthouse on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday afternoon scuffles broke out and two people were arrested.
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum (left), 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020. Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber (right), 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin
Tensions rose when a 20-year-old man wearing a ‘F**k Kyle’ T-shirt, Bart Simpson backpack, and Chicago Bulls beanie was arrested after scuffling with prominent Rittenhouse supporter Emily Cahill.
The two traded insults before the man threw a protest sign at Cahill.
He and fellow anti-Rittenhouse protestors tried to wrestle the sign back and as he was being pulled off Cahill he sucker-punched one reporter in the jaw.
Other protestors tried unsuccessfully to lead the man away and calm him down, but he then went on to strike several other people — including a DailyMail.com photographer — before being pinned to the ground and hauled away in a paddy wagon.
He was heard calling for his mother as the vehicle pulled away.
A 20-year-old man in a Chicago Bulls hat holds up a sign outside the courthouse, demanding Rittenhouse be convicted. The man later got into scuffles with Rittenhouse supporters and was arrested for disorderly conduct and battery
Wearing a Bart Simpson backpack, a protester calling for Kyle Rittenhouse’s conviction scuffles with an opponent on the steps of the courthouse on Wednesday
A BLM supporter is seen scuffling with pro-Rittenhouse demonstrator Emily Cahill on Wednesday
The man in the Bart Simpson backpack is pictured on Wednesday being arrested by Kenosha police following the scuffle
Police arrested the man who hit the cameraman, as well as another woman. Both of them were taken to a nearby police van.
The man, a 20-year-old, was arrested for battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department.
The 34-year-old woman was arrested for disorderly conduct.
‘Yes I got a little hurt so I had to leave,’ Cahill told Fox News.
‘I’m going to try and be back tomorrow.’
The flurry of violence as dark fell came after a calm day, which saw supporters of both sides had been sharing pizza as they awaited the verdict for the second day.
Justin Blake (center), whose brother Jacob was shot by police on August 23, 2020 – sparking the Kenosha riots – is seen on Wednesday night leading a protest outside the courthouse
The 20-year-old man with the Bart Simpson backpack is seen outside the Kenosha courthouse on Wednesday
The 20-year-old can be seen grabbing at a pro-Rittenhouse demonstrator’s sign
He then grappled with a man wearing a black backpack, on the steps of the courthouse
Emily Cahill, a Rittenhouse supporter, tries to keep a grip on her sign as the 20-year-old man attempts to wrestle it from her
The young man continues tussling with Cahill, trying to get her sign
Police are seen arresting the 20-year-old with the Bart Simpson backpack – he was arrested for battery and disorderly conduct
Officers from Kenosha police form a barricade as the 20-year-old is handcuffed
A man is pictured being pushed to the ground amid the chaos
A second person is pictured being wrestled to the ground by Kenosha police
A Kenosha officer tries to calm down an agitated woman outside the courthouse
The second person is seen being detained by officers
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