MSNBC staff uses pre-COVID photo to ‘COVID shame’ Miami spring breakers
March 25, 2021
MSNBC analyst Ferdinand Amadi and host Joy-Ann Reid attempt to “COVID shame” spring breakers in Miami by tweeting a photo from 2019 and calling the people in the photo “COVIDIOTS”.
Today’s center of the #COVIDIOTS universe is Miami Beach, Florida. pic.twitter.com/Wo8JeNfDFa
— Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) March 21, 2021
That literally looks like a microscopic image of a petrie dish… 🤢🤢🤢 https://t.co/XLg5H1ygXR
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) March 22, 2021
Both tweets have garnered thousands of likes and retweets. Amadi has since acknowledged the error, but doubled down on his sentiment.
“It has come to my attention that the picture in the original tweet is not from this week, but that does not change the fact that Miami Beach has been overrun by thousands of maskless Spring Breakers who are not abiding by the CDC pandemic guidelines as these other photos confirm,” Amadi tweeted.
It has come to my attention that the picture in the original tweet is not from this week, but that does not change the fact that Miami Beach has been overrun by thousands of maskless Spring Breakers who are not abiding by the CDC pandemic guidelines as these other photos confirm. pic.twitter.com/FY24UFQJcU
— Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) March 22, 2021
Reid has not tweeted any correction.
This is not the first time MSNBC has failed to investigate a photo to make sure it is an accurate depiction.
During the Trump administration, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow shared Obama-era photos of immigration detainment on her show, claiming that “they really did take away little kids from their moms and dads, it will never not be true…”