'No one's out to get him': MSNBC's Joy Reid on Trump, 'ReidOut' and inspiring Black girls

Joy Reid's prime-time MSNBC show "The ReidOut" debuted with a bang Monday, pulling in 2.6 million viewers as she interviewed guests such as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mayors Lori Lightfoot (Chicago) and Keisha Lance Bottoms (Atlanta).

"We made big asks," says Reid, who took over MSNBC's 7 p.m. slot formerly occupied by "Hardball With Chris Matthews" until he resigned in March, after accusations he made inappropriate comments about women. "We were like, 'Who can we get? Let’s ask for Oprah, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Biden and Hillary!' So, we threw out a pretty wide net – LeBron (James). We really just threw out a wish list and a lot of those guests said yes."

Reid, who had hosted MSNBC's "AM Joy" since 2016, is still hopeful she'll have Winfrey, the former first family and the basketball legend on her new program, though she acknowledges her first night's guests produced some anxiety.

"Once you know you have former vice president and former secretary of State back-to-back on a show, you can’t help get a little nervous," she says. "I definitely felt the pressure. But once the interviews were started and the conversation started, then I felt great."

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"The ReidOut" is set in Washington, but Reid wants the show's focus to extend to "what real people, activists, non-expert voices are doing and saying and hearing directly from a lot of these people."

She brings up the "wall of moms" protesting in Portland, Oregon, last weekend as one example.

"These marches have fallen out of the daily rundown of most cable news, but they’re still happening every day," she says. "And there’s still a lot to talk about."

Reid understands that young Black girls will be tuning in to watch her behind the desk, as one of just a handful of Black women to anchor evening news shows, with the same admiration she felt for Gwen Ifill and Carole Simpson.

On Monday, CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams tweeted his 3-year-old daughter's immediate response to Reid on-screen. She shouted, “SHE HAS CURLY HAIR JUST LIKE ME!" Williams posted. "Representation is no joke, people.”

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"I’m saving that in my phone because that’s one of those moments where really you do take stock in how important it is to have this kind of representation," Reid says. "It’s the same way that we all felt when, for the first time, the president and the first family looked like our families. ... You really do understand that it isn’t just a visual treat to have that kind of diversity, that it actually does matter."

Still, Reid feels the weight at having those young eyes on her.

"When you think about that and you think about the responsibility of that, it is pretty daunting," she admits. "My parents were immigrants. I come from the West. There’s a different perspective that’s not New York – I was born in New York, I didn’t grow up there. So I think that is a responsibility to bring these diverse community voices to the table, and I don’t take it as a burden. I do take it as an opportunity and a responsibility."

On Tuesday, "The ReidOut" introduced its “Craziest Damn Thing” segment, which took aim at Trump's "bizarre back and forth" on masks as a precaution to help slow the pandemic.

Reid stresses that reports on Trump aren't motivated by a desire to take him down.

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"No one’s out to get him. No one is trying to destroy him. It’s just he’s lying, and so we have to say that he’s lying," she says. "It’s difficult to cover him, I think, because he doesn’t act like a normal president. And I think we have to note that, because if we don’t note that, who is going to note that?"

Reid herself made headlines in 2018 when old, controversial and offensive blog posts resurfaced, which included a Sept. 11 conspiracy and homophobic language. Reid initially stated that she believed the homophobic posts were written by a hacker, then announced on "AM Joy" that she lacked proof for her theory. She also apologized for past offenses to the LGBT community, saying her behavior left her "heartbroken."

"I'd like to think that I've gotten better over time, that I'm still growing, that I'm not the same person I was 10 or five or even one year ago," she said. "And I know that my goal is to try to be a better person and a better ally."

When asked about criticisms of her homophobic remarks still being voiced on Twitter, she says of critics, "they have every right" to their disapproval.

"Not everybody is going to love everyone who is delivering them the news," she says. "But the reality is, I come at this really with some humility from all that happened then and feeling a responsibility to tell stories from these communities, particularly the LGBT community and others that are really, really still hurting and still struggling, and I take that as a genuine responsibility."

She adds: "All I can do is do my best, and do the best work I can, and hope that people appreciate that. And, if they don’t, that’s OK."

Contributing: Jenna Ryu

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MSNBC's Joy Reid talks new show 'ReidOut,' difficulty covering Trump