MSNBC’s Joy Reid must have blogged like a maniac during her early days as a political commenter because it seems like every week some internet sleuth is unearthing another embarrassing or hypocritical blog post of hers.
To just summarize some of the greatest hits so far from her now-deleted blog from 2007; she’s pushed 9/11 conspiracy theories (RELATED: Another Problematic Blog Post By MSNBC’s Joy Reid Uncovered), wrote about how “kick ass funny” Donald Trump is (RELATED: Joy Reid Called Trump ‘Kick Ass Funny’ In Old Blog Posts), and complained about the “chubbed up shrew Rosie O’Donnell”, made countless homophobic comments that would prevent most people from even being allowed on MSNBC as a guest (RELATED: LGBTQ Group Pulls Joy Reid’s Award Over Anti-Gay Blog Posts), and suggested that Jews be forced to relocate from Europe to Israel. (RELATED: Joy Reid, MSNBC Address Controversial Blog Posts But Make No Mention Of Hacking Claims).
The latest post of hers to be “uncovered” wasn’t really uncovered as all, as it was published on Salon.com, and it remains on their website. In that post, from 2000, Reid attacked the Clintons for not doing enough to deport illegal immigrants and their children. As you’d expect, this is the opposite rhetoric she’s had when it comes to Trump’s immigration policy.
The aforementioned post had to do with the Elian Gonzalez saga. At the time, Reid chastised Attorney General Janet Reno for not taking Elian away from his family and returning him to Cuba.
Gonzalez was found floating off the coast of Florida after his raft failed to make it to the coast of Florida, killing 11 on board (including Gonzalez’ mother). Gonzalez then lived with family (extended relatives) in Miami, until the Clinton administration did make the decision to deport him. The family resisted, resulting in the widely seen and iconic photo below:
Two days before the raid, Reid published the following Dr. Suess-esque poem:
I am Jan,
Jan I am.
I will not pick up Elian.
I will not put him in a car,
I will not take him near or far,
I will not go inside that house,
That Waco thing still freaks me out.
I will not take him in the rain,
I will not put him on a plane,
I will not pick him up, you see,
The exiles would be mad at me.
I will not take him to his dad,
Would you make Gloria Estefan mad?
I will not send him to Fidel,
Cause Marisleysis says it’s hell.
I will not go and do my job,
I’m too scared of that angry mob,
I will not push old Uncle Laz,
He’s got more lawyers than I have.
I know I promised, but oh well,
That’s just too bad for Juan Miguel.
Reid didn’t have trouble with children literally being ripped from their families’ arms back then, so what changed aside from the President? And of course, it would be ridiculous to hyperbolically claim that what happened to Elian and what’s happening at the border today is in any way comparable.
As the National Review’s Rich Lowry noted, “Separation happens only if officials find that the adult is falsely claiming to be the child’s parent, or is a threat to the child, or is put into criminal proceedings. It’s the last that is operative here. The past practice had been to give a free pass to an adult who is part of a family unit. The new Trump policy is to prosecute all adults. The idea is to send a signal that we are serious about our laws and to create a deterrent against re-entry. (Illegal entry is a misdemeanor, illegal re-entry a felony).”
Every single person crossing the border illegally with children today is doing so knowing the consequences. Avoiding separation is literally as easy as not trying to illegally enter another country.
