MSNBC’s Reid: GOP Using Herschel Walker as a Prop – ‘They Don’t Want a Thinking Black Senator’

MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said Thursday on her show “The ReidOut” that the Republican Party was using Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker as a prop.

Wednesday on FNC’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “They’re beating all of our guys up, but what is it about this guy? He changes the entire narrative of the left. We’re a party of racists, Sean. Me and you are racists. The Republican Party is racist. Well, what happens when the Republican Party elects and nominates Herschel Walker, an African American, black Heisman Trophy winner, right? Olympian. It destroys the whole narrative.”

Reid said, “For me, it’s the pointing at the silent man next to him as if he was an object. It’s Lindsey Graham’s completely sort of anodyne comments about, you see him? You see him, he’s black, you see how black he is? That proves we’re not racist. There’s a black man standing there. Look at him. You see how black he is. It’s the disrespect they have for black people, and their belief that black people are essentially a prop, that when you place one in front of America, they will associate Republicans with anti-racism. Just because look at him, he plays football. He’s athletic. Ain’t that black? He got a lot of kids he didn’t claim. Ain’t that black? He’s everything black is supposed to be and he’s going to do what we say. I found it incredibly offensive.”

She added, “This is what double bothers me about the people who have been trotted out to endorse Herschel Walker. You have Tom Cotton, who said slavery was not so bad, it was a necessary evil. He doesn’t give a damn about black people. You have Rick Scott, who has already threatened that he’s going to attack corporations that wouldn’t donate to Republicans. And now, Lindsey Graham, who when he had the opportunity to elevate an actual black United States senator and allow him to make a contribution, he undercut his fellow South Carolina senator and destroyed the bill that he was building. If he respects black men, then why didn’t he let  Tim Scott have that victory and have a legacy of his own? He undercut it. It’s showing you they don’t want a thinking black senator. He’s too much for them. They were like, ‘You can be here and wave quietly and silently wave, Tim Scott, but the minute you try to legislate, Lindsey Graham – your fellow South Carolina senator – is going to cut the legs out from under you.’ What they want is Herschel, who’s gonna sit there quietly and nod, and nod, and nod while he’s being pointed to as if he is a prop.”

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