MSNBC host Joy Reid was blasted for using the tragedy unfolding for those Afghan women and girls who were raised on Western values to demonize US Christian conservatives, likening them to the Taliban.
Reacting on Saturday to a Twitter post from BBC anchor Yalda Hakim reporting that women in Taliban-controlled Herat were turned away from their offices and university, Reid called the news “the real-life Handmaid’s Tale.” She added, “(It’s) a true cautionary tale for the US, which has our own far religious right dreaming of a theocracy that would impose a particular brand of Christianity, drive women from the workforce and solely into childbirth, and control all politics.”
This is the real-life Handmaid's Tale. A true cautionary tale for the U.S., which has our own far religious right dreaming of a theocracy that would impose a particular brand of Christianity, drive women from the workforce and solely into childbirth, and control all politics. https://t.co/R1lSCSUVwv
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) August 14, 2021
Reid was quickly met with pushback for using the Taliban’s rapid recapture of much of Afghanistan amid the US military’s withdrawal to bludgeon her political enemies. The notoriously misogynistic Islamic group cemented its control of northern Afghanistan with its capture of Mazar-e-Sharif on Saturday, and it has reportedly massacred surrendering troops and paraded suspected thieves through the street with nooses around their necks and their faces painted black.
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“This is your takeaway – a tragedy unfolding in real time for girls in Afghanistan and you’re concerned about an impossible and entirely fictional scenario that’s never been particularly clever, let alone plausible,” one commenter said. “Rediscover your humanity, please. Afghan girls deserve better.”
This is your takeaway! A tragedy unfolding in real time for girls in Afghanistan and you’re concerned about an impossible and entirely fictional scenario that’s never been particularly clever let alone plausible. Rediscover your humanity please. Afghan girls deserve better.
— Mjfern 🇺🇸 (@mjfern6) August 14, 2021
Another observer called Reid’s post “utterly shameful, an insult to the fate of Afghan women who are being raped and slaughtered as we speak. Repulsive.”
Utterly shameful. An insult to the fate of Afghan women who are being raped and slaughtered as we speak. Repulsive.
— Mike McD (@MickGMick) August 14, 2021
Reid, who has defended the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, has used similar rhetoric in the past to vilify conservatives. On Thursday, she said Texas Republicans were “putting bounties on women” by passing legislation allowing residents to sue abortion clinics, adding, “This is Talibanism.”
MSNBC's Joy Reid likened Republican-backed laws to 'Talibanism' in a Twitter rant about Texas' heartbeat bill?
— WooWoo Laloo (@lmcdonald9) July 14, 2021
Now We Pro-lifers are Taliban TERRORIST?
She doesn't even understand what the Taliban is. If the Republicans where really like the Taliban, She would be a man's play TOY pic.twitter.com/zIl7qPfpmr
Back in May, she said Texas lawmakers were “creating a warlord state” because they passed a bill allowing residents to carry handguns without being licensed. “By the time they’re done,” she said, “we won’t be Belarus, we’ll be Afghanistan.”
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Reid’s latest Taliban smear rang familiar to some observers. “You’re a one-trick pony with this, and it’s getting old,” Republican pollster Glen Bolger tweeted. “Sorry you don’t have enough faith in this country, but I do.”
You are a one trick pony with this, and it’s getting old. Sorry you don’t have enough faith in this country, but I do.
— Glen Bolger (@posglen) August 14, 2021
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