MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Joy Reid slammed for accusing Ron DeSantis of CHILD ABUSE

Reid was called a 'shriveled-up racist' after she attacked the Florida governor

Joy Reid has been blasted after she accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of child abuse. The 53-year-old television host had claimed that Desantis used Balck children as "props” as he signed an anti-Critical Race Theory bill — called Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act — and made it a law on Friday, April 22.

While the 43-year-old politician gave his approval to the bill at a press conference held in Hialeah Gardens, several Black kids were seen surrounding him while holding placards opposing CRT. He also said, “We're here today because we believe in education, not indoctrination. We are not going to use your tax dollars to teach your kids to hate this country or hate each other.”

READ MORE

Joy Reid's old homophobic posts resurface amid rumors of MSNBC pulling plug on The ReidOut

'She needs to SHUT UP': Joy Reid says world only cares about Ukraine as 'it's White and Christian'

But it did not go down well with Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones and Reid. Jones shared the image of the kids holding placards and wrote: “The fact that @GovRonDeSantis had these Black young men, who are not clear on this message, holding up a sign about something they know nothing about is the real indoctrination.” Reid retweeted Jones’ tweet and added: “This mis-use of Black boys is tantamount to child abuse. I would really like to hear the back-story on who these kids were and how they wound up at a DeSantis event. Given how anti-Black DeSantis is, using Black children this way is extra sick.”

She went on to say: “That sure looks like T. Willard Fair in the background. But I've been told by a trusted source that these were not Miami Urban League kids, standing there looking like they were at the dentist. Any Florida journalists have insight into this?”

DeSantis' spokeswoman Christina Pushaw took to Twitter to clarify the governor's side. She tweeted: “I was working at this event and helped with the set up. My colleague talked to all the kids beforehand & told them what the issue was & what bills @GovRonDeSantis was signing. Hundreds of people attended this event; those ~50 who ended up on stage freely chose to stand on stage.” She also shared: “Here are the same kids (on the left hand side) excited to get the pen from @GovRonDeSantis after he signed the bills.”

But Reid hit back insisting, “Update: heard from a Florida source today that these Black boys who America’s most racist governor used as props came from a Miami charter school (I won’t name the school to spare them from MAGA harassment/threats) & that they may not have known in advance why they were there.” She also added: “And @GovRonDeSantis needs to be clear on this point: we in the majority intend to protect our kids, of every race, gender identity and orientation, religion and ethnicity. We will protect their right to learn, to read, to watch cartoons, and to BE. We will protect them from YOU.”

However, there are some who don’t seem convinced by Reid’s allegations against DeSantis as a critic wrote: “Reid is a shriveled-up racist.” Another one tweeted: “And like clockwork, Joy Reid accused Ron DeSantis of child abuse and racism because black children were holding anti-critical race theory signs. Joy you are so predicatable You need to come up with some new material because playing the race card isn't working for you anymore.” “I guess Miss Reed doesn’t know that many black families are fed up with wokenes,” the third one added.