MSNBC host Joy Reid admitted she was 'hesitant' of the COVID-19 vaccine, but has since changed course as she responded to singer Nicki Minaj's vaccine hesitancy claims.
Reid - whose parent company NBC Universal requires vaccination for all in-office employees like herself - admitted on her show Thursday that she was hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine under the Trump administration.
'Listen, I understand the hesitancy,' she said as she spoke to Michael Dyson on her show Reid Out about Minaj, who she's been feuding with all week.
'I was hesitant when Donald Trump was out there controlling the CDC and controlling the FDA and manipulating them and making them put out falsehoods. Anybody rational was hesitant.'
MSNBC's Joy Reid admitted she used to be 'hesitant' toward the COVID-19 vaccine during the Trump administration. Since Biden took office, she has been pro-vaccinate and has since been vaccinated. Her parent company, NBC Universal, requires all in-office staff members to be vaccinated
Singer Nicki Minaj recently claimed her cousin's friend who got the vaccine in Trinidad experienced swollen testicles
Reid has since changed course since Biden took office and has been pushing the vaccine, especially among the black community, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the US.
'But the reality is now what I really fear is more masses of people dying; 666,000 people have died. And, disproportionately, they look like you and me, Michael,' she said.
The US has 63 per cent of its population vaccinated, with the Asian-American community being the highest at 68 per cent. Only 43 per cent of blacks are vaccinated, trailing behind whites (62 per cent) and Hispanics (48 per cent).
Reid agreed with Dyson when he applauded Minaj for encouraging those with vaccine hesitancy to study up on the vaccine's effectiveness on her show on Thursday.
Earlier, Reid blasted Minaj for using her 22 million followers to spread false information about the vaccine.
The hip-hop star had claimed her cousin's friend in Trinidad got the vaccine and experienced swollen testicles as a result, which lead to
