Former MSNBC host Joy Reid went after mainstream outlets on Monday for what she described as “corporate media eulogies” honoring Senator Lindsey Graham following his death over the weekend, as reported by Fox News.

The former South Carolina Republican senator, who was 71, died Saturday after a brief illness, according to his office. Reports confirmed the cause was a heart condition.

Speaking on her podcast “The Joy Reid Show,” Reid mocked the coverage that painted Graham in sympathetic or reverent tones. She blasted news outlets for what she viewed as an unearned show of respect.

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“You’re going to be remembered as someone who betrayed your friends, who betrayed your country, and who claimed that you cared about relationships,” Reid said during her commentary.

She accused Graham of abandoning his principles and ties to longtime allies to stay loyal to Donald Trump.

“You sold your soul. You betrayed your friends, your legacy, your own soul. You sold your soul to the devil, and now you get to meet him in person."

Reid’s remarks came as some television anchors and newspaper commentators reflected on Graham’s political career and personal relationships.

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The tone of those segments prompted her to lash out at what she viewed as fake reverence.

“There is a thing that happens when people who are not good people, and who’ve done a lot of bad … the media reacts to them in a very specific sort of ‘f---ed up-ish’ kind of way, particularly when they’re conservatives,” Reid said.

She continued by rejecting any suggestion that the wider public was mourning Graham. “So I will not be bullied by the corporate media into doing fake encomiums,” she declared.

“I cannot tell you how many anchors are on television saying, ‘The world is mourning the death of Lindsey Graham, the unexpected’ — Nope!”

Reid also accused the late senator of being “one of the most snide, mean, horrific interrogators of Black nominees” during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

She singled out his opposition to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022 as evidence of that behavior.

Though sharply critical, Reid did acknowledge aspects of Graham’s intellect and political skill.

She called him “witty, intelligent, smart enough to do better and to know better,” referencing his early resistance to Trump’s presidential candidacy in 2016.

The host then contrasted that earlier stance with his later embrace of the president. She cited Graham’s old remark that nominating Trump would “destroy” the Republican Party and said that his support for Trump “let the devils and the vampires in.”

“Lindsey, your whole legacy is already destroyed. You destroyed it. You destroyed your party,” Reid said in conclusion of her point.

At the time of his death, Graham had served in the Senate since 2003 after winning his first term in 2002.

He had recently secured the Republican nomination for what would have been his fifth term.

Reid’s tirade joined a wave of polarizing reactions across social media following the senator’s passing, underscoring how divided public sentiment remains even in death when it comes to longtime political figures.

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