MSNBC Puts up Picture of White Nationalist Richard Spencer Instead of Ex-Navy Secretary

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer listens during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 16, 2019. Alex Brandon/AP Photo

MSNBC put up a picture of white nationalist Richard Spencer during a segment showing viewers recent comments by another Richard Spencer, the recently ousted secretary of the Navy.

The picture was broadcast during “AM Joy” hosted by Joy Reid on Dec. 1.

Reid later shared a video that featured her making a correction.

“I want to make a quick correction. This is a pretty big correction. Earlier in the segment as we were talking about former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, we mistakenly showed the wrong image of white supremacist Richard Spencer,” Reid told viewers.

MSNBC was “very, deeply sorry for that mistake,” Reid added.

The error came as Reid and several guests were discussing an op-ed Spencer wrote that was published in the Washington Post.

Since being ousted by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for keeping secret negotiations with the White House, Spencer has attacked President Donald Trump over the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

The other Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and president of the National Policy Institute, was among those reacting to MSNBC’s airing of his picture, writing in a statement, “On some deep, unconscious level, America wants me to be in charge of the U.S. Navy.”

Reid, 50, made national news earlier this year when, after posts from her old blog were unearthed, she claimed that she may have been hacked. She said the FBI had been asked to look into the matter.

The posts were full of Reid’s thoughts on homosexuals, including her saying “most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing.”

“In December I learned that an unknown, external party accessed and manipulated material from my now-defunct blog, The Reid Report, to include offensive and hateful references that are fabricated and run counter to my personal beliefs and ideology. I began working with a cyber-security expert who first identified the unauthorized activity, and we notified federal law enforcement officials of the breach. The manipulated material seems to be part of an effort to taint my character with false information by distorting a blog that ended a decade ago,” Reid told Mediaite.

Reid later issued an on-air apology for the posts, telling viewers: “There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed. Today I’m sincerely apologizing again.” The apology didn’t include any mention of Reid’s former hacking claims.