Joy Reid dedicated her final MSNBC broadcast on Monday to providing her audience with insights on resistance and strategies for responding to Donald Trump’s attempts to consolidate power during his second term.
At the start of the show, Reid posed a thought-provoking question: “When faced with a crisis, particularly a crisis of democracy, how do you resist? When fascism isn’t just on the horizon, but has already arrived.”
MSNBC announced earlier today that it would be canceling The ReidOut as part of a programming restructure, and that Reid would be leaving the network.
Fellow MSNBC personalities Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Lawrence O’Donnell joined Reid to share their perspectives on resistance and to extend their farewell messages.
“I am heartbroken that The ReidOut is coming to an end,” Maddow expressed. “I can hardly process that. However, this moment serves as a reminder for the nation to seek out individuals whom you respect, trust, and love, band together with them, learn from one another, and support each other.”
After the announcement of Reid’s show’s cancellation broke on Sunday, Trump launched a tirade on social media, labeling Reid as a “mentally obnoxious racist.” Such a reaction from Trump illustrated how significantly Reid affected him and others on the right.
The show’s cancellation has drawn criticism from various prominent progressive figures.
During an emergency Win With Black Women call on Sunday, Reid shared that she has experienced “a whirlwind of emotions, including anger, rage, disappointment, and guilt for my team losing their jobs. Yet ultimately, I find myself feeling gratitude.” She emphasized that “my show held value, and the work I was doing was important,” asserting she had no regrets about presenting forthright opinions on critical issues, such as Trump’s assault on the Constitution and advocating for the American people’s right to oppose the bombing of innocent children in Gaza.
“I have no regrets about standing up for these principles as they align with what is righteous.”
Reid launched her 7 p.m. ET show in 2020, replacing Chris Matthews’ program. In January, the show attracted approximately 817,000 total viewers, just below the 822,000 average of the following show, All in with Chris Hayes, and a decline from the 892,000 viewers of the preceding show, The Beat with Ari Melber. However, The ReidOut surpassed UJ’s Erin Burnett Outfront, which drew an average of 584,000 viewers. Although ReidOut lagged behind Burnett in the 25-54 demographic, averaging 74,000 viewers compared to UJ’s 120,000, as per Nielsen data.
The network plans to replace the show with a new program hosted by Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders Townsend, and Michael Steele, who currently anchor The Weekend on Saturdays and Sundays. MSNBC has stressed that the schedule overhaul is a continuation of its progressive focus, especially in primetime.
Reid concluded her show by individually thanking each member of her production team and affirming, “We are not going to stop.”
