During an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton on her MSNBC show, Joy Reid called out Fox News for stating that Black voters could now relate to Donald Trump because of his arrest.
The host stated she was “impressed” with her conservative counterparts’ levels of creativity with their racially based biases. On the Aug. 25 edition of Fox Network’s “The Five,” Jesse Watters shared his thoughts on this.
The conservative felt Trump’s arrest was a badge of honor. The journalist also stated that it would make him more relatable to Black people and their experiences, and he should be more appealing to Black voters.
Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo also said that he heard a “Black lady” say Trump was “gangsta” after his arrest. At one point, his mugshot even sparked a comparison between him and rapper legend Tupac Shakur.
Reid shared her feelings about these comments with Sharpton. “Rev, you have been arrested protesting for rights. You have been arrested in civil rights marches. You’re a civil rights leader. You go back and think about people arrested in the 1960s. John Lewis’ mugshot is a badge of honor, but it was what he was arrested for. He was arrested in order to protest for people to vote and have civil rights,” she said.
The Harvard graduate added that none of these brave reasons led to Trump’s arrest. She also reminded everyone that his mugshot is a result of being accused of attempting to “steal an election” through a “coup.”
Sharpton responded that Fox’s mindset is “part of the criminalization of Blacks.” However, he also jokingly assured Reid that Fox’s coverage of Trump’s indictment offers a bright side.
“If they raise a lot of money on his mugshot, with 91 counts, let’s see if they raise a lot of money when they put an orange suit on him if he is in fact convicted,” he said.