MSNBC's Joy Ried says Trump is worse than George W Bush, brands president's supporters as a 'racial and religious cult'
MSNBC host Joy Reid, while comparing President Donald Trump and former President George W Bush during her segment on Saturday, said that at least the latter leader had a "soul."
Reid made the statement while discussing the "cult-like" religiosity of Trump's supporters with columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Leonard Pitts.
The pair, who were discussing a recent poll that found that more Republicans think Trump is a better president than Abraham Lincoln, expressed shame for the GOP over the findings.
They said that the poll revealed that the Trump administration is more of a religious "cult" that is taking advantage of predominantly white evangelical Christians, according to Newsweek.
Pitts, on Reid's AM Joy Program on Saturday, said: "[The Lincoln poll] sort of speaks toward the delusionary aspect of the Republican Party right now. This is not a party, this is a cult, and it has been a cult for a long time. And it wasn't just this Abraham Lincoln quote, what was it a week or so ago, maybe not even that, that Rick Perry said Trump was the 'chosen one'? And he wasn't even the first person to say that," Pitts added. "It's amazing."
The host said that calling Trump supporters a "cult" was not disparaging because there is plenty of evidence that it is a "racial and religious cult of personality in which his base is solidly among the white evangelicals that almost worship him and say that he's the chosen one of God."
Pitts agreed with Reid, drawing the similarities between how Christians view Jesus Christ and how Trump supporters view the president.
"When I say that, I'm not being rhetorical. I mean that literally, that there is a very cult-like aspect with what we're seeing going on with Trump, particularly in the aspect of him being 'He Who Must Not Be Questioned' in all of his idiocies, in all of his incompetence, in all of his mendacities that must be explained through the framework of him being infallible," Pitts said.
"In other words, if you see him being wrong, it's not him being wrong, it's him being so right that it's beyond your puny ability to understand," he noted with nervous laughter.
The host then brought up George W. Bush, saying there were certain authoritarian aspects to his presidency. "There were loyalty oaths that you had to sign to show up at his rallies," she said.
Pitts then interjected saying: "But he was a recognizable adult. [Bush] began to wake up toward the end of his presidency, he knew he'd been led off the cliff. He was a fundamentally decent guy... At the very least, there was a soul, a heart there. There at least seemed to be something human inside of him."
"There was a soul there," Reid agreed. "[With Trump], there is no bottom. Trump supporters want easy answers, they can't deal with the complexities."