What are Charlie Kirk's views on Joy Reid's MSNBC show?
Executive summary
Charlie Kirk has repeatedly attacked Joy Reid and dismissed her and other prominent Black women as beneficiaries of affirmative-action-style advantages, saying they “did not earn their spot” and portraying MSNBC as a source of “content” when Reid’s show was canceled [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and fact-checking trace Kirk’s remarks to specific broadcasts and episodes — Reuters and Snopes document his July 2023 comments singling Reid and others out as having benefited from such policies [2] [4].
1. A sustained campaign: Kirk frames Reid as an example of “unearned” success
Charlie Kirk has, on multiple occasions, characterized Joy Reid and other Black women as having benefited from affirmative-action or diversity policies and implied they “did not earn their spot” — a line traced to a July 2023 broadcast of The Charlie Kirk Show and summarized in Reuters’ profile of Kirk’s rhetoric [2] [4]. Snopes and the Congressional Record collection also document Kirk’s repeats of similar lines questioning whether prominent Black women reached positions on merit [4] [5].
2. Context: those comments sit inside a broader critique of affirmative action and DEI
Kirk’s targeting of Reid is part of his wider dismissal of affirmative action, diversity, equity and inclusion programs; Reuters reports he called the Civil Rights Act a “huge mistake” and frequently criticized institutions and people he said benefited from diversity initiatives [2]. Those broader positions illuminate why Reid and other Black public figures became specific targets in his rhetoric [2].
3. Reid’s account and reaction: she connects Kirk to media pressure and her firing
Joy Reid has publicly described media constraints and alleged that corporate decisions at MSNBC were influenced by outside pressures; in interviews she referenced Kirk’s comments as an example of the environment she couldn’t have covered while at the network and said the network’s actions show fear of losing business or running afoul of political forces [1] [6]. Reporting notes Reid was removed from MSNBC in a February 2025 shake-up, after which she launched a YouTube show — coverage documents her framing of corporate media’s self-censorship and mentions Kirk in that context [1] [6] [7].
4. Conservative media’s response: mocking loss or lamenting “content” depends on outlet
Conservative outlets and personalities reacted to Reid’s MSNBC exit in divergent tones. RealClearPolitics ran a clip in which Kirk called the end of Reid’s show “a joyless day” and described her as “one of our great content creators,” signaling that some conservatives treat her prominence as useful political fodder even when she is an opponent [3]. Fox News and other conservative outlets covered Reid’s criticism of MSNBC for firing Matthew Dowd, amplifying her defense of Dowd’s comments about Kirk [8].
5. Disputed lines and fact-checks: what’s documented, what’s not
Fact-checkers and records document Kirk’s July 2023 segment naming Joy Reid and others as alleged beneficiaries of affirmative action and saying that admitting as much would be called racist; Snopes and congressional excerpts archive and summarize those comments [4] [5]. Available sources do not mention other specific alleged private interactions between Kirk and Reid beyond public broadcasts and media commentary; if you are asking about private statements or off-air meetings, not found in current reporting.
6. How this shapes public narratives: two competing frames
Two clear frames coexist in the record: Kirk’s narrative portrays Reid as emblematic of what he calls unearned favors from diversity policies and uses that to undermine her credibility [2] [4]. Reid’s narrative — and that of some media defenders — portrays corporate media as constrained by external pressures and notes that coverage or criticism of figures like Kirk is limited inside networks, especially after contentious episodes such as Dowd’s firing [1] [6] [8].
7. Limitations and open questions in the reporting
Reporting documents on-air remarks and subsequent public fallout but does not provide a full catalog of every exchange between Kirk and Reid or a timeline of private communications; available sources do not mention private conversations between them [4] [2]. The sources also reflect different editorial perspectives — Reuters and Snopes record Kirk’s statements and frame them as part of his broader rhetoric, while outlets such as RealClearPolitics and Fox highlight partisan reactions; readers should note those outlets’ differing agendas when weighing the accounts [2] [3] [8].
8. Bottom line
On the public record, Charlie Kirk’s views about Joy Reid are hostile and centered on the claim that she — and other prominent Black women — benefited from affirmative-action-like policies and therefore lacked meritocratic claims to their roles; multiple mainstream and fact-checking sources document those statements [2] [4]. Joy Reid and her supporters frame Kirk’s rhetoric as part of a broader conservative effort to delegitimize diversity efforts and to shape how corporate media covers dissent, a dynamic extensively discussed in interviews and network reporting around her MSNBC departure [1] [6] [7].