Ex-MSNBC host Joy Reid recently claimed Juneteenth is the “real” independence holiday in America, asserting black people aren’t excited about July 4th.
Reid — who launched a YouTube show after she was fired as a TV host in early 2025 — delivered an account of Juneteenth, America’s ‘dark history,’ and Trump’s ‘demonic’ presidency during a Friday interview on the federal holiday. (RELATED: Doctor Frita Tells Joy Reid That Michelle Obama Jokes Could Cause Heart Disease)
“Nobody black I know is really excited about the 4th of July,” Reid said. “It is the celebration of slaveholders who freed themselves from having to pay taxes to the Crown for their slave empire. And that is what it is.”
“If we’re just being perfectly honest, whether you read ‘The 1619 Project’ or not, you just have to understand that for black people — particularly for African-Americans — there’s a duality to the Fourth of July that is hard to reconcile if you think about it too much,” Reid continued.
“Juneteenth to me is the real thing that Fourth of July is, because we really were not a democracy until we ended slavery,” Reid claimed. “[It’s] the perfect crystallization of the reality of America.”
Speaking for all black Americans, Reid complained that “it’s hard to recognize anything but Juneteenth as Independence Day.”
Reid’s interviewer, a woman identified as “Alex,” argued that Juneteenth is the “antidote” to the “patriotism” exhibited by the July 4th celebrations organized on the National Mall. (RELATED: Democrats’ Rival Event To Trump’s Freedom 250 UFC Bombs)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 14: Joy Reid speaks onstage during Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment on June 14, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for the Committee for the First Amendment)
“Juneteenth is actually the answer for what has been really twisting me into knots, which is like, what does patriotism look like? And what is the antidote? Like everybody’s like, you know, ‘f— the Fourth of July celebrations and the UFC fights and the Indie drag races and the MAGA rally. That’s not us. That’s not our country.’”
“Donald Trump represents the majority of American history. He is our just dessert,” Reid said, referring to what she described as the “imperialism, war-mongering, [and] theft” of the president.
“Trump is the ugly underbelly and reality of what we’ve been,” Reid added. “There’s still a demon inside of us. And he represents that. And it’s like we almost needed Trump to exist so we have to face the demon. […] He’s being the demon.”