Fox News Host Drags MSNBC’s Joy Reid Over Her Comparing Some Trump Support To A ‘Racial And Religious Cult Of Personality’

On Sunday, Fox News’ Ed Henry and Howard Kurtz discussed MSNBC host Joy Reid’s suggestion that some Republican Trump support is like a “racial and religious cult of personality.”

First, Kurtz played a clip of Reid talking about a recent Economist/YouGov poll in which a majority of Republicans said that Donald Trump is a “better” president than Abraham Lincoln.

Reid stated in part: “There’s a lot of evidence that is a racial and religious cult of personality in which his base is solidly among the white evangelicals that almost worship him and say that he’s the chosen one of God.”

Kurtz then asked Henry why Reid would use the term “racial … especially from somebody who often accuses, like many of her fellow liberal pundits, the president of being racially divisive?” 

Henry replied:

I don’t understand why she injected race. I don’t think race applies. Certainly, the vast majority of the president’s supporters are white, but I think we’ve seen in recent weeks and months he’s making a strong play for more and more black voters. We’ll see if he’s successful – but when you have black unemployment at historic lows right now and you have a president who’s trying to reach out to people of all backgrounds and say, “I want your vote, I need your vote,” I just don’t understand why race is part of the conversation.

It just doesn’t apply, and I think some people like to project themselves, their own anger at the president, their own criticism, and read into what he’s doing or saying rather than just focusing on what he’s actually doing instead of projecting, “This is what he really means! We’re gonna divine it!” 

On Saturday, MSNBC host Joy Reid had author and Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts on her show to discuss a new Economist/YouGov poll in which Republicans were asked to choose a “better” president – Donald Trump or Abraham Lincoln. 53% of Republicans selected Trump, while 47% selected Lincoln.

When asked for his comment, Pitts said:

I think I need a brick wall before I can answer that. I hadn’t seen, I hadn’t heard of that poll, but it sort of speaks further to the delusionary aspect of the Republican Party right now. This is not a party. This is a cult, and it has been a cult for a long time. And it wasn’t just this Abraham Lincoln quote. I mean, what was it a week or so ago – maybe not even that – that Rick Perry said that Trump was a chosen one, and he wasn’t even the first person to say that … it’s amazing.

The two then had an exchange during which Reid claimed there is “a lot of evidence” that the president’s base is behaving like a “racial and religious cult of personality.”

As The Daily Wire reported, a February 2018 poll from Economist/YouGov showed that, when asked to rank the best presidents, 33% of Democratic voters chose former President Barack Obama, whereas only 15% chose Abraham Lincoln.

Third, fourth, and fifth places went to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (14%), John. F. Kennedy (10%), and Bill Clinton (7%).