Former MSNBC host Joy Reid says she will no longer support Democratic candidates unless the party abandons its longstanding alliance with Israel.
Reid made the comments during a June 18 podcast interview with author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, where the two discussed the Democratic Party’s approach to Israel and the war in Gaza.
“To me, I, going forward, cannot vote for a Democrat who does not pledge to end this relationship,” Reid said. “This relationship needs to end. This is a nuclear armed expansionist power. They don’t need our money, and they definitely won’t get my vote.”
The former cable news host criticized both major political parties for their support of Israel, arguing that Democrats have remained committed to the alliance regardless of Israeli military actions.
That comment followed Reid’s broader criticism that the Democratic Party has been “married” to Israel in much the same way she believes Republicans have, regardless of developments in the Middle East.
Coates appeared on Reid’s YouTube program to discuss his recent writing examining whether former Vice President Kamala Harris’s handling of the Gaza conflict played a role in her 2024 election defeat to President Donald Trump.
While Coates said he was uncertain whether a more anti-Israel stance would have changed the election outcome, he argued that Harris could have lost “with honor” had she taken a stronger position on the issue.
Reid’s remarks highlight a notable break from her longtime identification with the Democratic Party. In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reid described herself as a “lifelong Democrat.” During the 2024 election cycle, she remained one of the party’s most vocal media supporters, at one point stating she would vote for then-President Joe Biden even if he were “in a coma.”
However, Reid had signaled growing frustration with Democratic leadership in recent years. In 2025, she said she was “barely hanging on” as a supporter of the party, comments that foreshadowed her latest declaration.
Her comments come as polling shows a growing divide within the Democratic coalition over Israel. A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this year found that 80% of Democrats held an unfavorable view of Israel, up significantly from 53% in 2022.
The shift has been particularly pronounced among younger Democrats and progressive activists, many of whom have urged party leaders to adopt a more critical stance toward the Israeli government and reduce or eliminate American military assistance.
Reid suggested that meaningful change is unlikely under the party’s current leadership, arguing that it may take a political outsider or insurgent figure to reshape the Democratic establishment’s approach.
She pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist whose rise has invigorated progressive activists across the country, as an example of the type of figure who could potentially push the party in a different direction on foreign policy.
The comments underscore ongoing tensions within the Democratic Party as elected officials and activists continue to debate the future of U.S.-Israel relations, a topic that has become one of the most divisive issues within the party’s coalition in recent years.
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