Joy Reid sparked backlash with another heated comment on TikTok when she claimed Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly would have been a better vice presidential pick for Kamala Harris because he’s as white as “a mayonnaise sandwich on wonder bread.”
The 55-year-old MSNBC host admitted that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “wasn’t the choice I was expecting” and “I thought (Harris) was going to become an astronaut.”
Online critics branded Reid a “racist” for his comments, with one asking: “Can you imagine if this was reversed?”
It’s just the latest in a series of startling videos Reid has sent from her TikTok account in recent weeks, including one that claimed Black Americans would have to be “really crazy” and “weird” not to vote for Harris in November.
MSNBC host Joy Reid, 55, sparked backlash after weighing in on Kamala Harris’s vice presidential race, calling one of the candidates in white “a mayonnaise sandwich on wonder bread.”
Reid said she was surprised by Harris’s choice and admitted she thought Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (pictured), a former NASA astronaut and Navy fighter pilot, would get the nod.
In the clip filmed from his couch, Reid began his commentary on the vice presidential race by saying he was going to “be realistic.”
“This is not the election I expected,” he said.
Reid noted that it was widely reported that the vice presidential race was down to three final candidates, with Walz and Kelly also facing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“I thought she would become an astronaut, keeping it real,” Reid continued. “(Kelly) to me would have been the safest choice, the most conventionally safe… white, super white.
‘Like a mayonnaise sandwich on wonderful white bread.’
Reid added that because the Arizona senator was from a border state, she “could have made a strong argument for herself,” particularly since the border is seen as one of Harris’s main weaknesses compared to Donald Trump.
Viewers reacted with fury to Reid’s comments, with many taking offense at his focus on the vice presidential candidate’s skin color.
“Joy is the ultimate racial provocateur,” one critic said.
Another person criticized his employer, saying: “(Reid) is so disgusting! How can MSNBC justify having a racist like that on their network?”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate this week, something Reid said he “didn’t expect.”
Critics slammed Reid’s comments on social media, asking: “Can you imagine if this was reversed?”
Reid’s incendiary TikTok isn’t the first time she’s sparked backlash from conservative critics.
Last month, the MSNBC host made a series of statements about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, including suggesting that he had not even been shot.
Amid mounting pressure on the Secret Service to explain the disastrous security blunder that allowed a gunman to shoot Trump, she listed several things she found “strange” about the episode.
She seemed to imply that it was a staged event that allowed Trump to “pose” for the iconic photo of him raising his fist in the air.
“We don’t know why, for nine full seconds, Donald Trump was allowed to stand back up during an active shooter,” Reid said.
‘Even though they had said at the time that the shooter was down, how would they have known if there were more shooters or not? There could have been five shooters for all they knew.
‘Yet they allowed him to stand up in the middle of that crisis, pose for a photo and raise his fist so he could get the iconic photo.’
Reid appeared to imply that Trump’s shooting was staged to allow him to “pose” for an iconic photo of him surviving the assassination attempt.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk led criticism of Reid’s comments last month, calling on MSNBC to “take Reid off the air” for his “outrageous, insane and defamatory” theories.
Reid also said that “we still don’t know for sure whether Donald Trump was hit by a bullet,” citing preliminary reports that he may have been hit by a shard of glass from a teleprompter.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk led criticism of Reid’s comments, calling on MSNBC to “take Reid off the air” for his “outrageous, insane and defamatory” theories.
“Donald Trump should sue her immediately,” he added.
Days later, Reid sparked controversy again during a broadcast from the Republican National Convention, where he compared Trump’s assassination attempt to President Biden’s positive Covid test result.
She compared Biden’s recovery from the virus in “a couple of days” to Trump standing up and pumping his fist seconds after being shot, feeling they “convey the exact same thing.”
Reid’s comments about the shootings sparked outrage in conservative circles, with CPAC host Mercedes Schlapp calling her “out of control.”
“Her comments are irresponsible and dangerous,” he said on X. “She is the ultimate conspiracy theorist.”
“Joy Reid should be fired,” another critic concluded. “MSNBC, you’ll never be taken seriously with this woman on the air.”