MSNBC host Joy Reid went on a scathing tweetstorm calling out the right-wing and tea party for not only allowing but promoting white supremacists who used the movement to spread their hate. In her tweets, Reid linked political talking points used by Republicans, directly to the Nazis that protested in Charlottesville.
"Something people might want to remember: the whole 'anti-political correctness' movement was about rebuking the notion of a 'polite society' where open expressions of racism, sexism and other forms of bigotry against minority groups are frowned upon." Reid wrote. "The POINT of anti-PC is to 'liberate' specifically white right wing Protestant men to say out loud what society has forced them to sublimate as out-groups gained social standing and civil rights. The reason Rush [Limbaugh] and [Michael] Savage and other right wing radio is so popular is they offered an outlet for that kind of anti-PC expression. Breitbart, 4Chan, [Fox News'] The Five and the rest are just the natural extension of that."
Reid continued, saying that white nationalists have always seen the mainstreaming of such messages a helpful recruiting tool.
"They used the Tea Party movement as fertile recruiting ground," she said, linking to a Guardian report that linked white supremacists to the tea party.
"Birtherism, fomented by Trump and his friend Joseph Farah, offered fertile recruiting ground," she continued, including a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center profile of Joseph Farah, who runs WorldNetDaily.
"And anti-PC 'meme culture' offers a fertile recruiting ground too. And they're aiming young," she wrote, linking to a Guardian report about white nationalists using college campuses as a recruiting ground.
She also cited former Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos, who once claimed the "alt-right" values are often described by "establishment-types" as being on the fringe. He claimed that they were not.
"Actual white supremacists and Nazis are a fringe. There aren't many of them. But they lay eggs in the cultural unease of white Americans," Reid tweeted. "A real leader would try to calm that unease and reject the egg layers. But Trump travels with them. He hired them and retains them."
She noted that President Barack Obama tried to do it', but that people of color can't stop the unease alone. White American must also join the movement to fix things and "Trump isn't helping."
"So to be very real right now? Americans need to look past this White House for leadership. You won't find it there. Find it elsewhere. Soon," she closed.
You can read and retweet her comments below:
