MSNBC host Joy Reid on Thursday said the "far right" are only nominating Byron Donalds (R-FL) for Speaker to counter Hakeem Jeffries, the nominee for the Democrats. Reid said, "Donalds supports voter oppression and efforts that disproportionately hurt black Americans." "Republicans love to talk about black people in two specific ways," Reid said. "The first way is to boost the identity politics while patting themselves on the back." "Never mind that Donalds supports voter oppression and efforts that disproportionately hurt black Americans," she said. "But since when do details matter? Any black guy will do, especially one who is very nice, big in stature, and goes along with the program. The second thing Republicans tend to do is play the match game, matching impressive black candidates with black conservatives. It's sort of they've got one so we've got one gambit." "The far right is nominating Byron Donalds to counter the nomination of Hakeem Jeffries, the other black Speaker candidate," Reid said. "If they really believe they want a black Speaker, they could just give six votes to Jeffries," Reid said of Republicans. "Conservatives claim they don't believe in identity politics, but they sure do play the game when it comes to black candidates," she said. "Real talk? It looks really self-serving and problematic like they don't take black voters seriously, which might be why so few vote for them. Just a thought." <blockquote>JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: We reached the quote MLK portion of the program. We see a lot more of that on MLK Day when Republicans who support voter suppression tweet about his legacy and that one disagregated quote. We saw more cringy displays today when insurrectionist apologist Dan Bishop nominated Byron Donalds who is black as speaker, while sharing how angry he felt about being accused of using Donalds as a prop. <i>REP. DAN BISHOP (R-NC): That member-elect wrote and sent out to America that Byron Donalds is a prop. I have spent a good bit of time with Mr. Donalds, especially lately. He ain't no prop. And if he were a prop, he wouldn't be sitting where he's sitting. This is the tired old grotesquely racist rhetoric we have seen far too long. </i> Me thinks the congressman protests too much. Never mind that Donalds supports voter oppression and efforts that disproportionately hurt black Americans. But since when do details matter? Any black guy will do, especially one who is very nice, big in stature, and goes along with the program. The second thing Republicans tend to do is play the match game, matching impressive black candidates with black conservatives. It's sort of they've got one so we've got one gambit. They propped up Republican birther Alan Keyes to face Barack Obama in the 2004 senate election in Illinois. They let Donald Trump pick celebrity running back Herschel Walker to run against Raphael Warnock in Georgia because, hey, football. By the way, has anybody heard from Herschel Walker since the election? He never called us back about that debate. And now the far right is nominating Byron Donalds to counter the nomination of Hakeem Jeffries, the other black Speaker candidate, the one in leadership for years and won all 212 votes in his caucus ten times in a row, actually 11... Conservatives claim they don't believe in identity politics, but they sure do play the game when it comes to black candidates. Real talk? It looks really self-serving and problematic like they don't take black voters seriously, which might be why so few vote for them. Just a thought. The gambit of the opposition to McCarthy, they have had a plan and it's very clear that their plan was to put up Byron Donalds to match [Hakeem] Jeffries, black guy for black guy, and say look, you can just pick him, he's got what? 19 votes? Or 17 votes. Jeffries has 212, he's six away. If they really believe they want a black Speaker, they could just give six votes to Jeffries.</blockquote>