Joy Reid, a host of MSNBC, replied to a tweet on Friday saying she finds claims of increasing crime rates “odd”, especially since none of her friends in big cities have been impacted.
ABC News and the Washington Post put out a poll on July 2 about people’s satisfaction rates on Joe Biden’s work as president thus far. In the poll, 59% of people said crime was serious in the United States. However, only 17% said crime was serious in the area where they lived. ABC News announced the poll on Twitter. In response, New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones quoted the tweet saying, “Given that actual crime is not at or near a 20-year high, not even close to it, where do you imagine these perceptions have come from? Media cannot help itself.”
Reid replied with, “Solid inquiry. I’ve seen more TV stories about crime than the actual anecdotes from friends in NYC or other big cities bear out. I mean summer is when crime always goes up and Shark Week happens perennially, despite the rarity of actual shark attacks. But it’s … odd for sure.” Over 275 people replied to her tweet and over 40 quoted the tweet, with several people saying how out-of-touch she is. Some users accused her of gaslighting. Others said she would have no idea of what goes on since she and her friends are affluent and can afford to live in safe areas.
According to police reports, crime has risen in the past year. The National Fraternal Order of Police data showed that shootings had gone up 60% in New York City since last year. Shootings and homicides have also increased exponentially in other big cities, such as Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, based on police department figures.
