Controversial statements made by Joy Reid are surging back to the forefront following the news of her new primetime weekday slot on MSNBC — statements that included an apparent approval of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the expulsion of Jews from Israel, suggesting they establish a “Zionist regime” in Germany and Austria instead.

On Thursday, MSNBC announced Reid’s new role as a primetime weeknight host. She is taking over the 7 p.m. slot previously held by former host Chris Matthews.

“I’m thrilled to have Joy on five nights a week,” said MSNBC President Phil Griffin, as detailed in the press release. “She’s thoughtful and brings so much depth to her reporting. She’s made for this moment.”

While the release mentioned her “decades-long experience in politics, passion for addressing the intersection of race, justice and culture, as well as her signature tenacious interviewing style,” it made no mention of her history of not only homophobic but antisemitic statements, as documented in her retired blog, The Reid Report.

In an entry dated December 8, 2005, Reid appeared to find common ground with Ahmadinejad, remarking that he “has a point” in suggesting the expulsion of Jews from Israel.

“If European countries claim that they have killed Jews in World War II … why don’t they provide the Zionist regime with a piece of Europe,” Ahmadinejad told Iranian television at the time.

“Germany and Austria can provide the … regime with two or three provinces for this regime to establish itself, and the issue will be resolved,” he said.

Reid’s entry reads:

Iran’s pres strikes again

Says “move Israel to Europe”

Update (Bienvenu au l’Israel): Wizbang makes this Ahmad Amadinejad zinger (I can finally write that without looking it up) their quote of the day (and their readers curiously vote for France…):

“You believe the Jews were oppressed, why should the Palestinian Muslims have to pay the price? You oppressed them, so give a part of Europe to the Zionist regime so they can establish any government they want. We would support it. So, Germany and Austria, come and give one, two or any number of your provinces to the Zionist regime so they can create a country there… and the problem will be solved at its root.”

I hate to admit that Mr. Amadinejad has a point … but it was the German government of the 1930s and the Vichy French who perpetrated and abetted the Holocaust (and a plurality of the Israelis are former German nationals, plus lower castes consisting of Eastern Europeans, Russians, Sephardic Jews from the Mediterranean and at the bottom of the social pyramid, Falasha Africans …) It does seem a tad cheeky of the British to have unilaterally awarded the victims land belonging to living Palestinians as restitution. After all, God is not a real estate broker. He can’t just give you land 1,000 years ago that you can come back and claim today.

In another entry, dated July 16, 2006, Reid criticized CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, calling him “an ‘AIPAC flak’ after he didn’t ask Israeli officials questions to Reid’s liking on air,” as reported by the Federalist.

Her post read:

If there is a more biased figure in the televised media than CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, I would be interested in finding out who he or she is. Blitzers interviews today with the Israeli and Syrian ambassadors tp the U.S. on the subject of the escalating war in the Middle East coulnd’t have been more different. With the Israeli ambassador, Blitzer was solicitous, even posing the incredible question of “what can we do” about the deteriorating situation. We??? Would that be we Israelis or we in the United States, Wolf? Mr. Blitzer, a former flak for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — though you’d never know it from his CNN bio — has consistently carried on that job in another form in his capacity as CNN host. He doesn’t even try to hide his affinity for his Israeli guests, or his partisanship for their cause, while turning instantly to prosecutorial mode when questioning any guest who has the dumb luck to be an Arab or Muslim in King Blitzer’s court. It’s actually quite stunning how brazen Blitzer’s bias has become. At this stage, should not CNN disclose to its viewers Blitzer’s background as a stenographer for the powerful lobbying group that holds the whip hand over Republican and Dmeocratic members of Congress alike, and whose role in a certain series of Iran-related spying cases raises troubling questions about whether foreign agents are operating inside the United States, with the purpose of screening American foreign policy in the Middle East for the government in Tel Aviv? (Or twisting it on Israel’s behalf…)

Blitzer’s behavior is not only anti-journalistic, it’s irresponsible and transparantly ideological. If he wants to do an editorial program promoting the interests of a foreign government (Israel,) he should petition his bosses at the network to do just that. Otherwise, if he is purporting to do “news,” he should stick to the news, and put aside his AIPAC flak jacket. (Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha didn’t fare much better with MSNBC’s resident twitterbug Norah “Giggles” O’Donnell, who even managed to characterize the U.S. veto of a U.N. resultuion condemning Israel’s use of excessive force in Gaza as a repudiation of criticism of Israel by the Security Council…)

“Shame on CNN for allowing this spectacle to go on,” she added.

There is no shortage of controversy linked to Reid’s defunct blog. As Breitbart News detailed, it also contains a slew of controversial homophobic remarks, particularly toward former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Reid referred to him as “Miss Charlie” and essentially accused him of desperately attempting to cover up his true sexuality:

Reid, in posts written 2007-2009, unleashed a crusade against former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist with an ongoing homophobic schtick, referring to Crist as “Miss Charlie” and suggesting that he was hiding his true sexuality. His then-wife, Carole Rom, was not spared from Reid’s wrath, as the journalist suggested that Crist married her to quash any speculation of homosexuality and reduced their engagement as an elaborate “veep marketing strategy.”

“I can just see poor Charlie on the honeymoon, ogling the male waiters and thinking to himself, ‘god, do I actually have to see her naked…?’” she wrote in one post.

While she apologized for the remarks, additional controversial entries were uncovered months later, although Reid claimed they were the product of an “unknown, external party” which “accessed and manipulated material from my now-defunct blog” to make her look bad.

Reid never appeared to face severe consequences from MSNBC over her remarks and has hosted the network’s AM Joy since 2016.