Heritage Action calls on MSNBC’s Joy Reid to retract ‘false’ claim that group wants to defund military

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Media top headlines June 25

Biden acting bizarre and whispering at a press conference, a Reuters survey showing that the US has the lowest levels of public trust in the media among 46 countries, and The New York Times’ Mara Gay saying rising crime is due to trauma, grief, and upheaval round out today’s top media headlines

The Heritage Foundation’s sister organization has called on MSNBC’s Joy Reid to retract a "ridiculous" and "false" claim that the conservative grassroots group wants to "defund the military" when it simply opposes critical race theory. 

"Reid made a ridiculous claim that Heritage Action wants to ‘defund the military.’ That could not be further from the truth, and MSNBC should immediately retract the false claim," Heritage Action for America executive director Jessica Anderson told Fox News. 

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Indeed, "The ReidOut" host told viewers on Thursday that Heritage Action wanted to "defund the military," citing a Politico report that said the group wants to ensure critical race theory isn’t promoted with federal funds. 

The Heritage Foundation’s sister organization has called on MSNBC’s Joy Reid to retract a "ridiculous" and "false" claim that the conservative grassroots organization wants to "defund the military."

Reid, who is coming off her lowest-rated week in the history of her show, made the comments as the on-screen chyron on her show declared, "Conservatives take aim at U.S. military."

"The new reporting in Politico is that Steve Bannon is back and his plan is to turn this fake, made up version of critical race theory, which is really just anti-racism. They hate anti-racism, he wants to turn that into their new Tea Party," Reid said. "Heritage Action is saying they want to now try to place this language about this made up stuff into-must pass bills and defund the military."

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The comment didn’t sit well with Anderson, a former Trump-era Office of Management and Budget official, who has called for voters to support anti-critical race theory bills. 

"Critical race theory divides our service members and weakens our national defense, and should not receive a cent of taxpayer dollars. Congress has a unique opportunity with the upcoming NDAA to right this wrong and ensure military spending is not flowing to CRT training or education," Anderson told Fox News. "That’s the truth, and we expect Joy Reid to retract her false claims immediately."

MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Heritage Action for America aims to hold lawmakers "accountable to their promises to advance the conservative principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense," according to its website. The group works directly with federal lawmakers and to "implement conservative solutions" drawn from its partners at The Heritage Foundation.

Earlier this week, Heritage Action put out a digital book designed to help parents stand up against critical race theory teachings in U.S. schools. The group also supports Rep. Dan Bishop's bill that stops the controversial theory from being implemented in the military

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Reid has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation and recently came under fire for declaring that anyone who opposes critical race theory being taught in schools is racist. The controversial MSNBC host is perhaps best known for a 2018 scandal in which she claimed that homophobic comments on her old blog, "The Reid Report," were not written by her in a story that shocked the media industry. Reid blamed hackers and claimed to enlist the FBI to investigate her implausible claim, but she became emotional on air when her story fell apart.

The MSNBC host then admitted it was unlikely she was hacked, but claimed that she didn’t recall making the offensive remarks, for which she apologized anyway. MSNBC stood by her throughout the ordeal and eventually promoted her from weekends to the weekday timeslot left by Chris Matthews’ sudden retirement last year.