Lt. Governor-elect Winsome Sears made history on November 2 when she was elected the first African-American female to the post. However, not all are celebrating her historical win; MSNBC host Joy Reid said on Tuesday after the Virginia elections that Republicans like Sears and Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin are “dangerous.”
Reid joined a panel of pundits on Tuesday night, discussing the results of the bellwether election in Virginia. Over the last few weeks, Youngkin had come from behind to take a notable lead over former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, who was vying for a second term at the position. As it became evident that Youngkin would take the victory – largely due to parents across the state who were appalled when McAuliffe said that parents had no business making decisions about their children’s school curriculum – Reid and others began to discuss Republicans in a disdainful way.
Joy Reid told other panelists, “You have to be willing to vocalize that these Republicans are dangerous . . That this isn’t a party that’s just another political party that disagrees with us on tax policy. That at this point, they’re dangerous. They’re dangerous to our national security, because stoking that kind of soft, White nationalism eventually leads to the hardcore stuff.”
Reid was one of many liberal media pundits who appeared to be in the midst of a meltdown as the Virginia and New Jersey election results came in. Reid, along with talking heads Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace, spoke negatively regarding Virginia parents. Wallace even claimed that the Critical Race Theory curriculum, which has been a hot topic of discussion in school board meetings across Virginia as well as other American states, “isn’t real.”
Sears, never missing a beat, appeared on Fox News on Wednesday; when shown the footage of Reid’s remarks, Lt. Governor-elect Sears retorted, “I wish Joy Reid would invite me on her show; let’s see if she’s woman enough to do that. I’d go in a heartbeat.” The former Marine continued, “And we’d have a real discussion without Joy speaking about me behind my back, if you will. She talks about White supremacy; does she know I ran against a White supremacist? . . . (Joy) get your facts straight, and then come talk to me.”
Reid was not the only pundit vilifying the Virginia election results. Many pundits tried to tie Republican wins in Virginia to Donald Trump and racism. Van Jones, a CNN contributor, called the election results “the delta variant of Trumpism;” saying that it was spreading faster and was “able to get more places” than the original version. Brianna Keilar, also on CNN, said that Youngkin’s platform was “dog-whistle racism.”
Sears was also attacked on Twitter. ESPN’s Jemele Hill tweeted “This country simply loves white supremacy.” Sears slyly tweeted back, “We beg to differ,” as well as posting a picture of herself with an AR-15 rifle.
However, not all media has shared the reaction of leftist pundits. The Media Research Center’s Nicholas Fondacaro said, “Virginia just elected this powerful Black woman as lieutenant governor. Her name is Winsome Sears btw.”
