![MSNBC's Joy Reid tries to paint DeSantis as racist over his warning for looters](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=31855673&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C22)
Theo Wargo/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women
MSNBC host Joy Reid suggested Saturday that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is promoting racist tropes by warning looters looking to rob businesses after Hurricane Ian ravaged the Sunshine State.
But the accusation completely backfired when people noticed the implicit claim in Reid's criticism itself had racist undertones.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, DeSantis recounted a message he saw plastered on boarded buildings in a community destroyed by the storm.
"They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, 'you loot, we shoot,'" DeSantis said. "At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation. We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who’ve suffered misfortune."
Later in the day, he invoked the Second Amendment when warning against looting.
"I can tell you, in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home," DeSantis said. "I would not want to chance that if I were you, given that we're a Second Amendment state."
On Saturday, Reid compared DeSantis' remarks to those once made by pro-segregationists, claiming DeSantis has returned to his true "form."
"'When the looting starts, the shooting starts.'—segregationist Miami sheriff Walter E. Headley, 1967," Reid said. "Didn’t take DeSantis long to return to form."
\u201c\u201cWhen the looting starts, the shooting starts.\u201d\u2014segregationist Miami sheriff Walter E. Headley, 1967\n\nDidn\u2019t take DeSantis long to return to form.\nhttps://t.co/8FJKyzQY1G\u201d— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1664639057
By directly connecting DeSantis' warnings against looting to racism, the suggestion implicit in Reid's comments was quickly exposed: that she drew a connection between looters and black people.
Reid has been outspokenly critical of DeSantis in the wake of Hurricane Ian and even appeared to enjoy the prospect of DeSantis requesting federal assistance from President Joe Biden.