Anchor Joy Reid rips Paul Ryan for putting politics before "the moral life of the nation"

MSNBC host Joy Reid called out Speaker Paul Ryan for his pathological obsession with tax cuts while Donald Trump continues to drag the United States into moral quicksand by supporting white supremacy.

On “Morning Joe,” the panel discussed Ryan’s public statements and tweets, in which he has incessantly been hammering on the Republican Party’s pro-tax cut message.

As Trump inflamed racial tensions and used the presidency to embrace white supremacy, Ryan has been tweeting about modernizing the tax system and fairness in the tax code.

Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the only African-American to hold the position, said Republicans in Congress are frustrated with Trump’s multiple meltdowns.

“It is a great frustration for the legislators, who want to legislate because they know that’s how they pivot,” he said.

Reid explicitly called out Ryan and his party for their complete disconnection with reality.

“Who cares about tax cuts?” she asked. “When you have a moral crisis in the nation, when the president of the United States does not have the moral authority to lead the nation — he’s condoning Nazism, calling people who carry the Nazi flag and the Confederate treasonous flag good people — then who cares?”

“I find it so incredible that people could prioritize ‘getting their economic agenda through’ over the moral life of the country,” she added.

REID: But at the end of the day, isn’t there a point at which — who cares about tax cuts? When you have a moral crisis in the nation, when the president of the United States does not have the moral authority to lead the nation, he’s condoning Nazism, calling people who carry the Nazi flag and the Confederate treasonous flag good people, then who cares? I find it so incredible that people could prioritize “getting their economic agenda through” over the moral life of the country. This is a foundational question. Is the president, or is he not, a person who condones Nazism and reverses the Confederacy? That’s much more important. Republicans need to have a bit more of a moral compass.

Ryan’s behavior is an extension of how he acted during the presidential campaign. Time and time again, he operated as if Trump’s bashing of immigrants, women, Muslims, and other were occurring in some other reality, as he campaigned for the Republican presidential ticket. And many of his fellow Republicans followed his lead.

Since Trump took over, Ryan has continued to tolerate his bigotry, investing in the idea that Trump would be able to sign conservative legislation into law while lacking moral authority.

Reid nailed him and his party on their amoral behavior and showed how rotten the entire situation continues to be.