MSNBC host Joy Reid released a statement this afternoon in response to a series of new reports about old controversial blog posts.
Those posts included promoting a 9/11 conspiracy theory; one in which she wrote, “Flying the Mexican flag on U.S. soil strikes me as incredibly presumptuous and insulting to the U.S.;” and another that shows a photo-shopped image of Sen. John McCain as the Virginia Tech shooter. The post, called Baghdad John Strikes Again, notes the 2008 GOP presidential nominee’s statement that he would “follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell.”
“While I published my blog, starting in 2005, I wrote thousands of posts in real time on the issues of the day,” Reid wrote in her statement. “There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed. Today I’m sincerely apologizing again.” She added:
I’m sorry for the collateral damage and pain this is causing individuals and communities caught in the crossfire. To be clear, I have the highest respect for Sen. McCain as a public servant and patriot and wish him and his family the best. I have reached out to Meghan McCain and will continue to do so. She is a former on-air colleague and I feel deeply for her and her family. I’ve also spoken openly about my evolution on many issues and know that I’m a better person today than I was over a decade ago. I am the daughter of immigrants and have worked to be a strong ally of these communities. There is no question in my mind that Al Qaeda perpetrated the 9/11 attacks or about Israel’s right to its sovereignty. I believe the totality of my work attests to my ideals and I continue to grow every day.
A few minutes after Reid issued that statement, her network, MSNBC, issued its own in support of the weekend host.
Some of the things written by Joy on her old blog are obviously hateful and hurtful. They are not reflective of the colleague and friend we have known at MSNBC for the past seven years. Joy has apologized publicly and privately and said she has grown and evolved in the many years since, and we know this to be true.
In late April on her MSNBC show AM Joy, Reid apologized for other hateful blog posts including many deemed to be homophobic. She had originally claimed someone hacked the decade-old posts, but forensic experts she hired could not determine anything was hacked.
Reid is scheduled to give a keynote address at the 5th annual Colorcomm Conference, which takes place next week at the Ritz-Carlton Kapaulua in Hawaii. TVNewser is hearing that Reid is still scheduled to attend and speak at Colorcomm.