MSNBC’s Reid: Republicans ‘Envy Being the Victims of Persecution’

MSNBC host Joy Reid said Thursday on her show “The ReidOut” that Republicans “envy being the victims of persecution.”

Reid said, “The irony is, there’s a long conversation that folks on the left and African Americans have been having about the weaponization of government against vulnerable communities. You can talk about whether it was against the anti-war movement during the early 2000s or against Dr. King against the Civil Rights movement. There are actual things, but Republicans also don’t want history, so they don’t want to remember any of the real weaponization of government that’s happened in, in some cases, the recent past. I feel like, and you have been inside the Republican world, that there’s almost an envy of the victimization that communities of color and marginalized people have faced. That they envy being the victims of persecution. Nobody of color wants to be the victims of persecution. This is not something to be envied, but it feels like they envy it.”

Panelist Tim Miller said, “Boy, you really hit the nail on the head on the psychology of this Joy. That is this driving element within the Republican base right now. They want to be the ones that are put upon. It explains why they lost elections. It explains then why, you know, maybe their kids’ politics are different than them, or they feel like the country is getting away from them. If they can say, ‘Oh, it’s this conspiracy,’ that explains why this is happening.”

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