MSNBC guest says ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan is code for wanting to ‘lynch or murder Black folks’
Progressive political activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham made the claim during a discussion revolving around a Missouri bill that would update the state’s self-defense laws.
An MSNBC guest claimed Thursday on "The ReidOut" that supporters of the political slogan "Make America Great Again," a phrase coined by former President Donald Trump, want to "lynch or murder" Black People in the United States.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham, a Missouri-based progressive political activist and host of the "Undistracted" podcast, joined Joy Reid’s show to discuss a new bill, SB666, which would revamp the state’s self-defense laws. Critics of the bill have dubbed it the "Make Murder Legal Act" and have argued that it will make criminal or civil prosecution of individuals who use deadly force difficult.
An excerpt from the bill reads in part as follows: "[Law enforcement agencies] may use standard procedures for investigating the use or threatened use of force, but the agency may not arrest the person for using or threatening to use force unless the agency determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used or threatened was unlawful."
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When discussing the bill, Joy Reid began the conversation by mentioning the case of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a married couple that brandished firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters in front of their home in 2020.
"The ReidOut" host asserted that Mark McCloskey, who is running for an open Missouri Senate seat, recently praised bill SB666 because it means that he and his wife "could have been in their slippers" and shot "every single Black Lives Matter" protestor that walked by "legally" and without subsequent detainment.
MSNBC's Joy Reid ((Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women))
Reid then asked Cunningham what the bill would mean for her and other Black activists. Cunningham said that for people like the McCloskeys that "Black skin is weapon enough," and claimed the bill was "designed" to "legitimize seeing Blackness as a weapon" and "justify" the murder of Black Americans.
"I also want to set the proper historical context, because back in the day, by 1950, Missouri had the second-highest number of lynchings outside of the Deep South," added Cunningham. "So when folks talk about 'making America great again,' that’s the kind of Missouri grand ol' tradition that they want to return to. They want to return to days when you could lynch or murder Black folks and there would be absolutely no retribution for it. That’s not hyperbole. I’m telling you as a Black Missourian and as a protestor, that is reality."
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Joy Reid nodded her head and concurred that the bill was "Fugitive Slave Act-territory" and essentially "legalizing lynching."
MSNBC didn't respond to a request for comment.
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