Joy Reid doesn’t brook much dissent on her own MSNBC show, regularly shutting down, as here, here and here, conservatives who have the temerity to disagree with her. Fortunately, when Rich Lowry of the National Review took on the Reid this morning, it happened on Meet the Press, where Reid was a fellow panelist rather than host.

The topic was the violence between neo-Nazi/white nationalists and Antifa, in which numerous people were injured and one woman killed. President Trump has come under withering media and political attack for a statement condemning violence “on many sides.”

Lowry made the point that the so-called “anti-fascists” in Charlottesville also engaged in violence, and the violence was not one-sided, as the videos show. Reid refused to admit that there was violence on both sides, claiming “there was certainly not.”

Next, Lowry, while expressing the wish that the alt-right would wither away, said that Reid was helping the alt-right by defining it so broadly as to include Trump aides Stephen Miller and Michael Anton.

Lowry concluded by saying it was “crazy” of Reid to call Anton a “white nationalist.” The Weekly Standard, run by Bill Kristol, is hardly a fan of the alt-right or the Trump administration. But this article from the publication explains who Anton, a thoughtful conservative intellectual, actually is.

Kudos to Lowry for having the courage to confront Reid, someone generally unaccustomed to being contradicted.

RICH LOWRY: Look, you have so-called “anti-fascists” who dress in black, wear masks — JOY REID: Were they beating clergy yesterday? LOWRY: There is violence on both sides. REID: There was certainly not. LOWRY: Yes there was! REID: Were they attacking clergy? I spoke with clergy who were being beaten with brass knuckles by neo-Nazis. LOWRY: Anti-fascists also beat people up, break things and burn things. They both should be condemned. I want the alt-right to be as limited as possible. I want it to go away and die. But you’re not doing folks on my side any favors by defining it so widely that it includes Stephen Miller and Mike Anton. That’s what they want. You’re helping them by defining it so widely. REID: Have you read the blog posts that they’ve posted? LOWRY: I don’t think Mike Anton is a white nationalist. That’s crazy.



