Former MSNBC host Joy Reid has once again raised questions about the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump during a Pennsylvania rally. Speaking on fellow former MSNBC colleague Katie Phang’s YouTube channel on Tuesday, Reid expressed doubts about the extent of Trump’s injuries and criticized what she sees as insufficient media coverage of the incident.
Reid argued that the media “can’t even ask” questions about the assassination attempt that occurred during Trump’s campaign. She suggested that the public knows “nothing” about Trump’s actual condition following what she referred to as the “alleged” assassination attempt at the Butler rally last year.
“He’s got these magical doctors who claimed that he was shot in the ear, but his ear, I guess, grew back,” Reid remarked during the interview. “He had a Dukal bandage on one minute, no bandage the next. We can’t get a medical record from this alleged assassination. He was supposedly shot. We have nothing. We’ve got no – we can’t even ask.”
What actually happened during the Butler assassination attempt
The assassination attempt took place on July 13, 2024, during a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop using an AR-15-style rifle, striking Trump in his upper right ear. One rally attendee, firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting, while two others were critically injured. Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service counter sniper team seconds after he began firing.
The FBI confirmed in July 2024 that Trump was struck by “a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.” This statement came after FBI Director Christopher Wray initially testified that there was “some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel” that hit Trump’s ear. Representative Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former White House physician, released medical updates stating that Trump had “sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear” and was treating the wound daily.
Reid continued her criticism by comparing the lack of information about Trump’s case to historical assassinations. “We knew almost immediately, almost everything about Kennedy’s assassination. I know more about McKinley’s assassination than I do about this attempt to assassinate Trump when he was a presidential candidate,” she stated. Her comments echo similar conspiracy theories that have circulated on social media, despite extensive FBI investigations and multiple congressional task force reports that concluded the assassination attempt was real but preventable due to security failures.
Phang joined Reid’s speculation during the interview, asking “Where are the investigative records? One day he slapped a Maxi Pad on his ear. The next day, the ear is totally fine.” Reid responded enthusiastically, saying the ear looked completely healed and questioning why mainstream media has not demanded Trump’s medical records. The former MSNBC hosts’ comments have drawn criticism from various sources, with some calling Reid’s conspiracy theory “the most deranged” about the assassination attempt.
Reid had previously questioned Trump’s injuries just days after the July shooting, posting on social media that she had “many questions” about the medical reports and what caused Trump’s injury. She asked whether it was “shrapnel? Glass? A bullet?” and questioned security protocols that allowed Trump to stand and pose for photos after the shooting. These conspiracy theories have persisted despite multiple investigations and reports confirming the legitimacy of the assassination attempt.
MSNBC canceled Reid’s primetime show, The ReidOut, in February 2024, and she is no longer with the network. Her latest comments came as she continues to appear on various platforms and podcasts, maintaining her skeptical stance about the Trump shooting incident despite extensive evidence and official investigations confirming its authenticity.
Published: Sep 4, 2025 08:00 am