MSNBC host Joy Reid took to Twitter after the State of the Union address on Tuesday to attack President Donald Trump for invoking institutions such as family and the military in his speech.
Reid cited Trump's themes of church, family, police, military, and the national anthem as "tropes of 1950s-era nationalism" that were intended to invoke nostalgia in his supporters.
Church ... family ... police ... military ... the national anthem ... Trump trying to call on all the tropes of 1950s-era nationalism. The goal of this speech appears to be to force the normalization of Trump on the terms of the bygone era his supporters are nostalgic for. #SOTU
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 31, 2018
Reid then complained that Trump does not actually respect any of the institutions that he claims to support, while again mocking the desire of Trump supporters for an "Ozzie and Harriet past."
The fun part is, Trump doesn’t actually embody any of the values he’s harkening back to. Faith? He panders to the religious far right but claims he’s never even asked God for forgiveness. Family? He has flouted his marriage vows with porn stars and is accused by multiple women
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 31, 2018
of sexual harassment and worse. Law enforcement? Sure, he is leading the culture war against NFL players who kneel to oppose police killing black civilians, but he and House Republicans are also waging war on federal law enforcement.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 31, 2018
And as for the military, Trump’s seeming eagerness to flirt with war with North Korea can’t be heartening. Trump is putting on a show; allowing his base to reminisce about an Ozzie and Harriet past they don’t even really value anymore based on their support for his "values."
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 31, 2018
Other Twitter users promptly criticized Reid for suggesting the notion that fairly universal values are somehow just tropes of a bygone age.
Do you seriously consider "Church ... family ... police ... military ... the national anthem ..." to be "terms of a bygone era"? #SOTU #SOTU2018 #USA 🇺🇲
— Joseph Steinberg (@JosephSteinberg) January 31, 2018
Wow. Who knew that love of family, pride in our country, and an adherence to the general rule of law (a hallmark of every democracy) is nothing more than the nostalgia for a "bygone era." https://t.co/aCedWaNt5M
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) January 31, 2018
I love that Trump draws them out to expose themselves for who they really are. https://t.co/u0KrpMuiTX
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) January 31, 2018
BREAKING: President likes things that are good. https://t.co/n2A6Wu9ItU
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) January 31, 2018
Man, how could he? Those things are all so horrific. Twenty-first century Americans are much too advanced to value family, military, and the national anthem, after all. https://t.co/VBvSXCyoEf
— Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) January 31, 2018